The Love-Hate Relationship Between Democrats and Socialists

Establishment Democrats continued their war on the socialists this week, moving from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Meanwhile, a third of the party’s voters identify as “democratic socialists,” even if many of them don’t exactly know what that means.

Democrats Go to War – With Each Other

Last week, Rahm Emanuel – an establishment Democrat who previously served as Chicago mayor, White House chief of staff, and ambassador to Japan – went after self-declared democratic socialist Bernie Sanders. “If the Bernie bros were serious about growing jobs and wages, they would support candidates touting substantive ways to help families cover the mortgage or the rent, secure their retirement, and ensure no one is a single medical emergency away from bankruptcy,” Emanuel wrote.

Sanders shot back, calling him an “establishment” Democrat who’s “dependent on billionaire campaign contributions” to maintain the status quo.

But that was last week. This week, the former Windy City chief took aim at another mayor: the Big Apple’s Zohran Mamdani. He boasted of confronting Mamdani on his stance and rhetoric regarding Israel. During an appearance on the Unholy Podcast, Emanuel claimed he met privately with the democratic socialist for about 90 minutes, challenging his anti-Israel stance and the use of the phrase “from the river to the sea.”

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Now, for those unaware of what “from the river to the sea” means or why it so perturbs folks, let’s expand it to the full saying and explore a little Middle Eastern geography. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. This is the line bandied about by anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters the world over. But there’s a problem: From the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea includes the areas contested by both Israel and the Palestinians – but it also includes all of Israel. Now, some argue that isn’t what it means; many see the phrase as a direct call for the destruction of Israel entirely.

But Emanuel wasn’t alone in his criticism of Mamdani. Mark Penn, a longtime strategist for the Democrats and an advisor to President Bill Clinton, targeted Mamdani’s proposed property tax, arguing it sweeps up far more property owners than initially suggested.

“The $5 million figure was fake,” Penn wrote on X. “Now many will recall that persecutions frequently begin with a list – a list that can be used by the authorities and that is where Mamdani started – and he published it to boot. And smiled about it as though those high-value owners deserve what’s coming to them,” Penn continued. “But with a million people on his tax hit list, welcome to the lie of socialism – it starts with the idea that only ‘they’ are going to get it – a small group of 30,000 homeowners – and before you know it you are on the list.”

A Conflicted – And Confused – Party

While the democratic socialists ruffle the feathers of the elite establishment Democrats, they’re apparently alright with much of the voting public. Candidates explicitly endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America have won 38 primary and local elections and lost another 38 so far this year, with 87 to go. Clearly, a large chunk of the rank-and-file Democrats are on board with socialism.

A new survey from CNN and SSRS shows that about a third of Democrats and “Democratic-leaning” adults identify as democratic socialists. The survey reveals some not-so-surprising trends here: The socialists tend to be younger, white, make less than $100,000 a year, and are less likely to have a college degree.

But even outside of folks who personally identify as democratic socialists, 64% of those who don’t identify as such said they’d be okay with such a candidate, with just 36% saying they would be upset or uneasy. That’s a remarkable portion of respondents who are at least open to the idea of socialism.

But, then, one must wonder just how well those people understand what democratic socialism even is. Another poll – this time from Reuters and Ipsos – shows that less than half of Americans understand the ideology. The three-day survey, which ended last Sunday, showed that 49% of respondents said they understood democratic socialist policies, while 47% said they did not.

As well, when asked about whether democratic socialists have good ideas, 27% said they have at least some, while 51% said few, if any, and 20% said they didn’t know. This respondent pool, though, is a bit more ideologically diverse than the one in the CNN/SSRS poll. MAGA Republicans got similar results – 27%, 57%, and 13%, respectively – but the main takeaway here is that about half of America’s voters know they don’t really understand the ideology – and quite likely at least some of the other half who think they do really don’t.