What the Movement Taking Over the Democratic Party Wants

In the span of just a couple of weeks, Democratic voters across the country did something that establishment strategists claim voters never do: They threw out safe, entrenched incumbents for candidates far to their left. Claire Valdez, Brad Lander, and Darializa Avila Chevalier swept New York’s House primaries after New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani campaigned hard on their behalf. A week later in Colorado, Melat Kiros ousted a 15-term congresswoman.

More races like these are coming. In Michigan, progressive Abdul El-Sayed is ahead in the polls heading into the state’s Senate primary in two weeks. If he wins the nomination in a swing state carried twice by Donald Trump, it will be the clearest signal yet that this movement can succeed beyond deep-blue districts.

On the Fourth of July, President Trump warned of a “resurgence of the communist menace in our land,” calling it “a mortal threat to American liberty.” Democrats, meanwhile, are divided over what to call it. Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York has unveiled a pledge opposing the party’s leftward drift, while others are wearing the socialist label proudly.

We have covered this story closely because the ground is shifting beneath American politics. Is this communism, as the president says? Or democratic socialism, as the rising candidates say? Or something else entirely—Third Worldism, generational economic grievance, an identity crisis?

We asked some important contributors to make sense of what we are seeing. Though they might not agree on a name for it, all of them agree that what’s happening now will define the Democratic Party’s future. Read on to see where they land. —The Editors

In his speech marking America’s 250th anniversary, Trump warned of the return of communism, pointing to the results of the Democratic primaries. At first glance, this may seem like nothing more than a cheap scare tactic. Yet, as Soviet dissidents used to joke: Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that no one is following you.