The recent electoral success of candidates affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has prompted many Republicans and commentators on the right to attack these Democrats for being “socialists” or “communists” — as if those labels will persuade voters, particularly younger voters, that DSA-backed candidates are just too radical.
It’s not going to work. For many Americans, “socialist” is no longer an epithet the way it was during and immediately after the Cold War. Baby Boomers and Gen Xers (and even older Millennials) are simply mistaken if they think that calling New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani a commie is going to sting, or that pointing out the hypocrisy of well-heeled leftists is going to stick. This week Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana cracked a joke about “Lulu Lenins,” which is funny but isn’t going to deter voters who back DSA-affiliated candidates.
