There’s one big reason socialist voters may not get what they want

The left’s new vision is running into an old problem.

The left is painting Blue America rose.

In just the past two weeks, four insurgent left-wing candidates — including three socialists — have won Democratic congressional primaries. The latest victor, 29-year-old Melat Kiros, defeated 15-term incumbent Diana DeGette Tuesday night.

These wins capped a banner year for progressives in general and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in particular. Socialists will soon hold the mayorships of New York, Seattle, Washington DC, and Chicago. And progressives have won many hotly contested congressional primaries, with a left-populist securing the Democratic nomination in Maine’s Senate race. Meanwhile, Abdul El-Sayed, a longtime favorite of Bernie Sanders supporters, is overwhelmingly favored to win the Democratic Senate primary in Michigan.

To many on the left, all this signifies a shift in the bounds of political possibility. As the Guardian writes, “socialism is no longer a dirty word.” The dream of turning America into a Nordic-style social democracy (if not a communist utopia) suddenly seems more thinkable.

And yet, for the left’s core economic project, recent political trends are less auspicious than they appear.

To bring social democracy to America, it is not enough to sell Democratic primary voters on left-wing candidates. Rather, one must persuade Americans in general to accept higher tax rates, in exchange for more public services, like Medicare-for-all. This has long been a controversial proposition in the United States. And it has actually grown less popular in recent years, amid a bipartisan revolt against middle-class taxation.

The insurgent left’s victories could generate real change. They will quite likely shift the Democratic Party’s stance on Israel, render its leadership more deferential to the left, and make congressional progressives more procedurally radical.

Until the left sells voters on higher taxes, however, it won’t turn the United States into Denmark (let alone a socialist republic).

Americans want major change — but on the cheap

On many fronts, public opinion is moving in the insurgent left’s direction. Among Democrats, 62 percent have a favorable view of “socialism” while just 42 percent report the same feeling about “capitalism.”And more than two-thirds of Democrats under 45 say they are “more of a supporter” of the progressive movement than a supporter of the Democratic Party.

Among the broader electorate, “anti-system” sentiment is widespread. In a recent poll from Navigator, a Democratic data firm, 68 percent of voters said that America’s economic system needs either “major changes” or to be “torn down completely.” Throughout the 2024 election, the New York Times’s surveys yielded similar findings.

Further, voters sympathize with the left’s calls to soak the rich. In a January Pew poll, roughly 60 percent of voters said they were bothered by the wealthy and corporations not paying their fair share in taxes.

Many items on progressives’ social welfare agenda also poll well. And two-thirds of Americans believe that the federal government has a responsibility to ensure that everyone has healthcare coverage (although, in the same Pew poll, only 35 percent thought........

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