Recent primary election wins by some very progressive Democrats, including a few self-described democratic socialists, have rekindled a cautionary tale, comparing that to political insurgent Republicans in 2010 who became the Tea Party movement.

I'm not buying it. The scale is way off. But this smaller movement could influence our next presidential election.

The Tea Party coalition, before it was co-opted by political consultants, was much larger, better funded and far more organized. A 2010 New York Times analysis found 139 Tea Party Republicans seeking seats in the House and Senate that year.

For the November midterm elections, the Democratic Socialists of America party has endorsed just three candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives. Two of them, Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb of Philadelphia and Melat Kiros of Denver, won their primaries. The third, Oliver Larkin of Florida, is on the Aug. 18 primary ballot.

Local DSA chapters have endorsed nine other House candidates in eight states. Two of them, former U.S. Rep. Cori Bush and Hartzell Gray, were defeated in Missouri's Aug. 4 Democratic primary. In Michigan's Aug. 4 primary, Kyle Blomquist was defeated while Donavan McKinney won the Democratic nomination.

This is not what the Tea Party looked like or sounded like during the midterm elections 16 years ago.

Democratic Socialists of America are having a moment. So far, that's it.

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, told me that "the 'democratic socialist' movement within the........

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