Socialist candidates can delete old posts, but they can't erase their radicalism
This summer, as millions of Americans were enjoying fireworks or gearing up for the fall football season, the campaign of the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan was scrambling to cover up past statements denouncing both.
You read that right: the campaign of Abdul el-Sayed was caught red-handed by CNN erasing hot takes declaring that "fireworks suck" and linking football to slavery.
On one hand, you can’t blame him. El-Sayed is running for statewide office in Michigan, which voted for President Donald Trump twice in the last decade. Better to take the hit on the flip-flop and sell voters on his canned declaration about his love for "Michigan football on Saturdays" than defend the indefensible.
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On the other, if character is what counts when no one is watching, el-Sayed has shown who he is. Voters should believe him.
To be fair, he’s not the only candidate navigating the collision course between a hard-left worldview and the political realities of getting elected in a center-right country.
In neighboring Wisconsin, Francesca Hong, the Democratic Socialist candidate, came up just short in her gubernatorial primary. Unlike el-Sayed, her past social media commentary surfaced before Election Day, including her support for canceling Thanksgiving.
Down the home stretch, Hong’s campaign was overrun with similar questions about some of her past and current extreme views. At one point, the candidate even declared Thanksgiving her "favorite" holiday, but the damage was done.
While some expressed surprise at the narrow margin, the more appropriate question is how Hong came within roughly 4,000 votes of grabbing the nomination in one of America’s most purple states.
One of the leaders of this movement, New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has deployed a creative tactic when faced with questions about her past views, saying that "Woke 1.0 was crazy."
There are at least three reasons these seemingly unelectable candidates are driving the national conversation this summer.
First, an empowered activist class is stepping up and filling the void of a party in need of new ideas, leaders and voices. The Democratic Party is still reckoning with the scars of the previous election. Until it has reckoned with and acknowledged the mistakes of the past, moving forward becomes difficult.
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Second, this new crop of candidates grew up in the digital age. El-Sayed is 41. Hong is 37. Ocasio-Cortez is 36. Social media has been readily available to them their entire adult lives. Anyone has a platform to pop off on the news of the day without giving it a great deal of thought. Or how it will look under the glare of a future political campaign.
This phenomenon is not limited to one political party or ideology, either. Any first-time candidate would be wise to audit and clean up their online presence before embarking on their journey into public life.
Finally, and most importantly, many of these sentiments are consistent with the core principle of socialism taking hold within the American left. At its core, socialism believes that the American experiment is over and the dream is dead. What better ways to express that perspective than opposing football, fireworks and Thanksgiving?
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Proponents of socialism want voters to believe it’s all about free health care, free pre-K and free college. New York City, under the Mamdani administration, is even pursuing government-run grocery stores. They present their ideology as merely a means of righting the economic wrongs in our country, and duck questions about rgw price tag or practicality with vague platitudes about making the wealthy "pay their fair share."
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It’s no secret the GOP faces a challenging midterm electorate. Early voting starts in some states in a matter of weeks. Trump is not on the ballot, and the ongoing conflict in Iran has bogged down his approval ratings.
Republicans’ best case may well be not just that woke 1.0 was crazy, but it never left the building. Old social media posts and videos can be taken down, but the insight into the world view on philosophy remains – and it’s downright chilling.