当在白宫被问及如果珍妮丝·刘易斯·乔治(Janeese Lewis George)在周二的初选中赢得华盛顿特区新任市长的竞选时，唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)总统的回答很明确。
“我不会喜欢的，”特朗普说。“也许我们可以收回华盛顿，在联邦政府的基础上管理它。我们不会容忍的。”
华盛顿特区议会议员刘易斯·乔治(Lewis George)是在全国各地竞选公职的几位民主社会主义者之一，他们希望对特朗普的厌倦和对民主党人的失望将激励选民考虑当权派候选人的替代方案。她主张反击特朗普政府，特别是在与移民和海关执法局(ICE)合作方面。本月早些时候进行的华盛顿课后民意调查显示，乔治以两位数的优势领先于前特区议会议员、民主党人肯雅·麦克杜菲。
福克斯新闻在2月和3月进行的民意调查发现，38%的选民认为美国走向社会主义、远离资本主义是有好处的。这比2022年高出6个百分点，创历史新高，但与2018年的36%相似。在同一项调查中，近一半的人认为资本主义运行“不太好”或“一点也不好”。
选民的经济困难可能会影响他们的决定
福克斯新闻频道民意调查发现，30岁以下的选民中有53%表示他们更喜欢社会主义而不是资本主义。
自由主义者卡托研究所的研究员艾米丽·艾金斯告诉美国广播公司新闻，年轻人“想要负担得起的医疗保健，更负担得起的住房，公平的经济，富人不会从政府那里得到特殊照顾，”但认为年轻人实际上并不理解什么是社会主义。
弗朗西斯卡·洪，一位民主社会主义者，前餐馆老板，正在竞选威斯康辛州州长，她告诉ABC新闻，她认为那些在账单和经济压力中挣扎的人更有可能给像她这样的候选人一个机会。
“我认为我们展示了一条道路，”洪说。“但你必须吸引新的选民，你必须吸引年轻选民，你必须谈论真正想要改变这个系统，因为它对普通人不起作用。”
美国民主社会主义者(DSA)在2018年崛起，当时左翼团体的几名成员，包括众议员亚历山大·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯和伊尔汉·奥马尔，在众议院以民主党人的身份赢得了席位。
自那以后，DSA面临了几次挫折。著名的民主社会主义参议员伯尼·桑德斯第二次未能获得民主党总统候选人提名。一些著名的DSA政客，包括密苏里州的柯里·布什和纽约州的贾马尔·鲍曼，已经失去了他们在国会的席位。
著名的民主党人有时也拒绝支持DSA候选人。纽约州参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)拒绝支持佐兰·马姆达尼(Zohran Mamdani)参加纽约市市长竞选，马里兰州民主党参议员安吉拉·艾尔索布鲁克斯(Angela Alsobrooks)选择支持麦克杜菲，反对刘易斯·乔治(Lewis George)。
最近一些显著的成功
但是最近，DSA候选人在民主党初选中取得了显著的成功。5月19日，克里斯·拉布在宾夕法尼亚州第三国会选区获胜。进步的洛杉矶市议会成员妮提亚·拉曼在6月8日击败了真人秀明星斯宾塞·普拉特，晋级该市的市长大选，对阵现任民主党人凯伦·巴斯。如果拉曼和刘易斯·乔治都赢得了选举，纽约、洛杉矶和华盛顿特区都将拥有DSA市长。
右翼消息将民主社会主义者框定为危险的激进分子。尽管如此，刘易斯·乔治告诉美国广播公司新闻，她不认为社会主义者的标签是一个政治障碍。
刘易斯·乔治说:“即使是温和的民主党人也会被共和党人称为社会主义者。”。
紫色州的冒险策略
许多著名的DSA获胜都是在自由派城市，包括纽约市的Mamdani选举。中左翼智库“第三条道路”的马特·本内特告诉美国广播公司新闻，试图在紫色州重现这些成功可能会给民主党带来灾难。
例如，贝内特担心洪可能会赢得她的初选，然后在11月被共和党人汤姆·蒂芙尼(Tom Tiffany)击败，将一个摇摆州的州长职位交到一名涉足2020年选举阴谋论的极右翼自由党团成员手中。根据第三条道路(Third Way)的一项分析，自特朗普2017年当选总统以来，“极左翼”候选人没有在国会中从共和党转向民主党，而“温和派”民主党人则转向了50个席位。
“如果你是极左派，在这些地方很容易获胜，”贝内特说，他指的是纽约和华盛顿。“在威斯康辛这样的地方是不可能获胜的。”
佛罗里达州的国会候选人奥利弗·拉金告诉ABC新闻，他想“对亿万富翁征税，让他们消失”，但他不同意。
拉金说:“作为佛罗里达州历史上第一位联邦办公室DSA候选人，我们所做的确实是前所未有的。”“所以说它没有成功的记录还为时过早。”
在他的初选被佛罗里达州重划国会地图打乱后，拉金不得不从他已经广泛开展竞选活动的佛罗里达州第23区转移到第25区。重划选区使他在与众议员Jared Moskowitz的竞争中处于非常不利的地位，Jared Moskowitz是一位温和的民主党人，曾在Ron DeSantis政府中工作。尽管如此，拉金仍然看好DSA在大选中的成功。
拉金说:“人们不应该相信过去几年的选举结果是今年秋天将要发生的事情的预兆。”。“我认为我们处在一个完全不同的环境中。”
Democratic socialists think fatigue with mainstream politics could open paths to victories in the midterms
When asked at the White House how he would feel if Janeese Lewis George won Tuesday's primary in her campaign to become the new mayor of Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump's response was clear.
"I wouldn't like it," Trumpsaid. "Maybe we take back Washington and run it on a federal basis. We won't put up with it."
Lewis George, a D.C. council member, is one of severaldemocratic socialistsrunning for office across the country who hope fatigue with Trump and frustration with Democrats will inspire voters to consider alternatives to establishment candidates. She advocates pushing back against the Trump administration, particularly when it comes to cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). AWashington Post-Schar School pollconducted earlier this monthshowedLewis George with a double-digit leadover former D.C. council member Kenyan McDuffie, a Democrat.
AFox News pollconductedinFebruary andMarchfound that 38% of voters believe it would be good for the United States to move toward socialism and away from capitalism. That isup 6 percentage pointsfrom 2022 and a new record high, but similar to 36% in 2018.In the same poll, nearly half said capitalism was working "not very well" or "not at all well."
Voters' financial struggles could factor in their decisions
The Fox News poll found that 53% of voters under 30 said they preferred socialism to capitalism.
Emily Ekins, a researcher at the libertarian Cato Institute told ABC News that young people "want affordable health care, more affordable housing, a fair economy, where the rich aren't getting special favors from the government," but argues that young people do not actually understand what socialism is.
Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist and former restaurant ownerrunning for governor ofWisconsin, told ABC News that she thinks people struggling with bills and economic pressure are more likely to give candidates like her a chance.
"I think we're showing there's a path," said Hong. "But you have to engage new voters, you have to bring in young voters, and you have to talk about actually wanting to change the system, because it's not working for everyday people."
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) rose to prominence in 2018 when several members of the left-wing group, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, won seats in the House running as Democrats.
Since then, DSA has faced several setbacks. Prominent democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders failed for a second time to secure the Democratic nomination for president. Several prominent DSA politicians, including Cori Bush in Missouri and Jamaal Bowman in New York, have lost seats their seats in Congress.
Prominent Democrats also sometimes decline to endorse DSA candidates. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York declined to endorse Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral race, and Maryland Democratic Sen. Angela Alsobrooks opted to support McDuffie against Lewis George.
Some recent notable successes
But more recently, DSA candidates have seen notable successes in Democratic primaries. On May 19, Chris Rabb won in Pennsylvania's 3rd Congressional District. Progressive Los Angeles city council member Nithya Raman bested reality TV star Spencer Pratt on June 8 to advance to the city's general mayoral election against incumbent Democrat Karen Bass. If Raman and Lewis George both win their elections, New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., would all have DSA mayors.
Messaging on the right frames democratic socialists as dangerously radical. Still, Lewis George told ABC News she doesn't see the socialist label as a political handicap.
"Even moderate Democrats get called socialists from the Republican end," Lewis George said.
A risky strategy in purple states
Many notable DSA wins have been in liberal cities, including Mamdani's election in New York City. Matt Bennett of Third Way, a center-left think tank, told ABC News that trying to recreate those successes in purple states could spell disaster for Democrats.
Bennett is concerned, for instance, that Hong could win her primary and then be defeated in November by Republican Tom Tiffany, fumbling the governorship of a swing state into the hands of a far-right Freedom Caucus member who dabbled in 2020 election conspiracy theories. According toan analysis by Third Way, "far-left" candidates have not flipped a seat in Congress from Republican to Democrat since Trump became president in 2017, whereas "moderate" Democrats have flipped 50.
"It's easy to win in these places if you're far-left," Bennett said, referring to New York and D.C. "It is impossible to win in places like Wisconsin."
Oliver Larkin, a candidate for Congress in Florida who told ABC News he wants to "tax billionaires out of existence," disagrees.
"As the first DSA candidate for federal office in Florida history, what we're doing really hasn't been tried before," Larkin said. "So it's a little bit premature to say that it doesn't have a track record of working."
After his primary was disrupted by Florida's redrawing its congressional map, Larkin had to move from running in Florida's 23rd District, where he had already campaigned extensively, to the 25th District. The redistricting puts him at a heavy disadvantage against Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a moderate Democrat who previously worked in the Ron DeSantis administration. Still, Larkin remains bullish on DSA success in the general election.
"People should not buy that the election results from the last few years are a harbinger of what's to come this fall," Larkin said. "I think we are in a totally different environment."
