Democratic socialists are now undeniably part of the Democratic Party. They are, because their victories are no longer one-off occurrences. They are, because their victories are no longer only happening in deep blue jurisdictions. Most important, they are because the Democratic Party refuses to disavow them.

Abdul El-Sayd’s win in Michigan’s Senate primary marked yet another milestone in democratic socialists’ advance into the Democratic Party. This was a win in a presidential swing state, a state that Democrats have not won the presidency without since 1976. It was a state where Democrats spent over $70 million to defeat El-Sayed. It was a state where the party establishment lined up behind Rep. Haley Stevens to beat El-Sayed.

Despite all this, El-Sayd won with the endorsement of the leading democratic socialists and their fellow-travelers. He won with the backing of the DSA. And he did not win alone: Progressives also won the Democrats’ nomination in the state’s 7th and 13th (defeating incumbent Rep. Shri Thanedar) congressional districts.

When Democrats’ dalliance with democratic socialists began, it was with Bernie Sanders of Vermont. He was an eccentric, and his self-labeling only added to what some Democrats saw as a cross between quixotic and radical chic.  Sanders was an indulgence, a guilty pleasure.  What could one hurt?

In 2018, the Squad were ingenue insurrectionists.  The usual suspects from........

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