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Establishment Democrats Are Embracing Loserdom

Some centrists would rather have Trump triumph than forge an alliance with the left.

James Carville is “done.”

Establishment Democrats are panicking as voters in their party move sharply to the left. Politico reports that “Leftist candidates swept a trio of deep-blue House seats in New York City, a seismic victory that toppled two incumbents, including the powerful chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. And after a string of progressive battleground wins in earlier primaries, moderates are making it very clear that the left’s winning streak is potentially just starting.” 

The victories in New York this week could partially be explained by local factors. Mayor Zohran Mamdani is popular, and he endorsed a slate of progressive challengers that successfully won upset battles against rivals with heavy backing from the establishment. Mamdani’s own surprise victory was powered by the organizational strength of the Democratic Socialists of America, which has emerged as a formidable machine in New York politics.

But the rise of the left is not just a New York story. As Politico notes, “Progressives have romped through Democrats’ spring primaries, notching a series of wins across both safe and competitive districts and upending House and Senate Democrats’ battleplans.” In Maine’s Democratic Senate primary, Graham Platner, an incendiary anti-system candidate, handily defeated Janet Mills, the governor of the state who had been singled out for support by the party’s Senate leader, Chuck Schumer.

Establishment Democrats are not responding to these defeats with anything resembling grace or equanimity. In fact, they are freaking out, sometimes even openly threatening to tear the party apart rather than work in a big tent that includes a robust wing of democratic socialists. In effect, these establishment Democrats are threatening to hold the party hostage, saying that if the left isn’t stopped, they prefer either to sit out the election or to expel the left.

In a two-party system, this sort of my-way-or-the-highway attitude runs the risk of empowering the Republicans, even in a vulnerable political environment. Although Donald Trump is historically unpopular, the GOP might still win the midterms and elect a MAGA successor in 2028 if enough centrist Democrats throw a hissy fit and split the party.

CNN reports that “One Democratic lawmaker sitting in a battleground district told CNN that they are so concerned about the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America that they have recently begun having serious conversations with donors about leaving the party altogether.”

James Carville, former campaign advisor to Bill Clinton, expressed the same idea in more florid terms. On a podcast, Carville ranted about Darializa Avila Chevalier, a Mamdani-backed DSA candidate who won a congressional primary on Tuesday. Carville cited some extreme positions the candidate took when younger (such as criticizing interracial marriage), which she has since disavowed. Despite his own constantly stated distaste for purity tests, Carville made no allowances for Avila Chevalier changing her mind. Instead, he said,

Lady, I ain’t in the same party as you. I’m sorry. I’m just not. And I actually do think it’s time for Democrats to talk the ‘s’ word: schism. I really do. Everybody’s always said, “No, no. We’re a coalition. We’re a big........

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