Democrats have a new millennial problem: Young socialist candidates

From: washingtonexaminer.com                                ByJohn Patrick

The Democratic Party is being pulled to the socialist left by candidates such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

While Democrats have always embraced socialist policies to a certain extent, claiming to be a “socialist” was taboo until recently, with the change thanks in large part to a surge in millennial candidates running for office.

Even though the 2018 midterm elections are more than three months out, Democrats have quickly lost control of their agenda for the American people. Any plan that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi may have had for their divided caucus is now being forcibly pulled further to the left by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28 year-old progressive darling of the Bronx who is almost certain to win her election in an overwhelmingly Democratic district.

[James Comey warns Democrats: Don’t ‘lose your minds’ and embrace socialists]

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This brings us to the Democrats’ newest millennial problem: All the young, hip candidates have essentially embraced far-left socialism. Even worse, many of these candidates have all been endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America and are touting their endorsement as a badge of honor.

In Pennsylvania, a number of Democratic primaries were successfully hijacked by far-left millennial candidates, which resulted in three primary victories by DSA-backed candidates. State representative candidates Summer Lee, 30, and Sarah Innamorto, 32, both pulled off significant upsets in their Democratic primaries, and are now running unopposed, essentially guaranteeing they will win.

Another candidate, Elizabeth Fiedler, 37, left her 10-year career as a journalist for NPR’s Philadelphia affiliate WHYY to join the primary race for Pennsylvania’s State District 184, where she was endorsed by DSA and won the Democratic primary in May.

While having young, fresh faces on the campaign trail might look good for Democrats, it doesn’t help if they are openly supporting ideas and policies that are so far left that even senior Democrats have warned against adopting them. Just last week, former FBI Director James Comey sent out a frantic tweet in which he begged the Democrats to avoid skewing further to the left. 

Barring a miracle, all four of these millennial socialist candidates will win their elections this November and begin injecting their voices into public policy once they are sworn in come January 2019. While it is still unclear whether Democrats will prove successful in picking up any seats in the House or Senate, the party will in fact have a larger socialist lean come November.