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Possibly. Getting seats in Congress, yeah, but are there any DSA senators and not just House of Representatives? As for Newsom, I think he realises California is where his bread is buttered, even if he runs for president it'll be a Kamala-style result, so keeping on the good side of the edge cases until he can wangle some kind of move away from California into the higher echelons of the party (if there is such a thing). I wonder if he'd be interested in running for the Senate? But given the backlash against Scott Wiener, this is risky and demonstrates why he'd have to stay on the good side of the crazies.
DSA winning seats in select local districts is entirely possible. DSA as new third national party and being relevant on a national scale? I don't see it, and if any DSA affiliate did manage a run for national office (like AOC and the presidency, something often wistfully mentioned) I think the person would have to considerably soften their policy positions. Go all-in on "new, high-paying, union jobs" (which we all know are now a dying if not dead breed) and economic populism, cool it on "Stalin was the greatest person who ever lived, I find it really hard to pick my favourite between him and Mao".
By my count so far there's Platner in Maine plus AES in Michigan, though the latter still has to win the primaries. Am I missing anyone else?
The guy everybody was losing their life over? I think it'll be very damn interesting to see what he does once he sits his backside into the seat, and if he just votes with the mainstream Dems or decides to get up on his trotters and call for the People's Socialist Revolutionary Republican Democracy Democratic Republic right this second 😁
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The DSA is not going to be a third national party; it is taking over the Democrats. And with the Democrats it gets the Democratic juggernaut. Policy positions don't matter because the Democratic right flank is secure -- no matter how far left they move, they won't lose people to the Republicans, because it's simply socially unacceptable for people who have gone Democratic to ever vote for Republicans.
Even if it's socially unacceptable, that doesn't mean it doesn't happen (I'd guess it happened pretty significantly in 2024). And things that are socially unacceptable are socially unacceptable until they're not. Depending on just what a DSA takeover of the Democratic party is like, I could see that changing pretty quickly. I just hope it doesn't get to that point; people are naturally very excited/depressed right after a particular election result, but I'm hopeful that this doesn't portend a trend.
The DSA might lose the Democrats some seats in New Jersey (some of our most Democratic areas are also our most Jewish, and not squishy Palestinian-supporting Jews either), but I'm fairly sure that in general, the social unacceptability of Republicans is deep-seated and effective. The success of Graham Platner --- death's head tattoo guy -- polling ahead of Susan Collins (squishy Republican, often breaks the party) in the Maine Senate race demonstrates that.
Susan Collins always polls behind a democrat at this point in an election cycle, I wouldn’t read too much into that democrat being graham platner.
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