DSA and MAGA: two sides of the same coin

Every political action has a political reaction.

That’s the Kinsellian Axiom, and that’s what we are seeing in the United States, in this, the crucial midterm election year: action, reaction.

Donald Trump’s big MAGA win in 2024 - in the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House - jerked American politics to the Right, and in some cases far-Right. That shift was always going to produce an opposite and equal movement on the Left. It was going to cause a reaction that was as extreme as Trump’s stampede to the Right.

Thus, the takeover of the Democratic Party by the Democratic Socialists of America, DSA.

The DSA has been around the fringes of U.S. politics since the early 1980s. Back then, it was a lot like Canada’s New Democratic Party: an amalgam of dirt-under-the-nails trade unionists and pointy-headed intellectuals. Then, as now, the DSA was mostly a Leftist reaction to the Right-leaning politics of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. There were only a few thousand DSA members at the start. Now, there’s more than 120,000.

When one considers that the Democrats and the Republicans have many more card-carrying members (45.4 million and 39.2, respectively), that 120,000 doesn’t sound like a lot. But, since Trump Two started ripping apart the fabric of American politics, those 120,000 DSA members have been punching way, way above their weight.

In the main, DSA’s membership are - as their name implies - socialist. They reject capitalism, full stop, and favour public ownership. They want universal social programs and aggressive measures against fossil fuels. They want to abolish most customs and immigration controls. They strongly support DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) measures. They want to reduce military power. And, overwhelmingly, they detest Israel - and, too often, Judaism itself.

That may all sound surreal, but the DSA have swiftly become a major force in the Democratic Party, mostly as a reaction to Trump.  Consider what they’ve achieved in a very short time.

Zohran Mamdani is the main DSA banner-carrier and a longtime member. Mamdani is resolutely anti-Israel. He wants to raise taxes for the wealthy, and the minimum wage for others. He wants fare-free public transit, universal childcare and city-owned grocery stores. He has been anti-police and favours strict rent controls.

Despite all of that - or, because of it - Mamdani is now the mayor of one of the biggest cities on the planet, New York. He clobbered former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo in the 2025 NYC Democratic Party mayoral primary by more than ten points - and, in the mayoral race that followed, by just under ten points. He did that, in part, by positioning himself as the best candidate to oppose Trump and Trump’s policies. When Trump stupidly endorse Cuomo, it was all over - Mamdani sailed to victory.

Elsewhere, DSA members or DSA-aligned candidates are racking up wins as Mamdani did.

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