For months, conservative commentators, myself included, have described the socialist victories in Democratic primaries as an insurgency, a small, radical faction hijacking a party that doesn't fully share its politics. On the surface, it fits. We have a disciplined minority exploiting low primary turnout to knock off establishment Democrats one seat at a time. But a new poll raises an uncomfortable question. What if the insurgents aren't insurgents at all?
What if they're just Democrats?
The story we've told is straightforward enough. Democratic Socialists of America-aligned candidates, most of whom can't stand the Democrat Party establishment, run as Democrats because that's the only ballot line that gets them elected. Primary turnout skews toward the party's most committed voters, and that base has grown more comfortable handing power to candidates who think and talk like Bernie Sanders. One by one, entrenched Democrats, themselves part of the far left, have lost to challengers even further to their left. Call it an insurgency, and it fits.
But, recent polling suggests the "insurgency" label may be too generous. A Fox News poll found that 52% of Democrats hold a favorable view of socialism, while 43% view it unfavorably. Last I checked, 52% is a majority.
That matters. If just over half of Democrats view socialism favorably, then the likes of Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Mayor Zohran Mamdani are simply representing where the party's voters already stand. Socialism grew inside the Democrat Party organically, cultivated by a base that welcomed it instead of settling for it.
The problem for Democrats is that this welcoming of socialism and socialist candidates is a phenomenon limited to their own party. The Fox News poll showed only 17% of independents hold a favorable view of socialism, while 77% view it unfavorably. Voters who don't carry a party label overwhelmingly reject the ideology Democrats are increasingly embracing.
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CNN, unsurprisingly, tried to downplay the shift among its own Democrat-leaning audience, describing the rise in support for socialism as improving "modestly, at best." A 52% majority is still a majority, no matter how CNN slices it.
A Gallup poll cited by CNN found an even higher number: 66% of Democrats hold a positive view of socialism. Whichever pollster you trust, the conclusion holds. Socialism now has broad, durable support across the party's rank and file. That isn’t the sign of an insurgency. From where I sit, this is the organic transition of a party that has been increasingly more open about where it stands.
@SteveKornacki: "Among Democrats...a majority have a favorable view of socialism, step outside the Democratic party, it's a totally different world." pic.twitter.com/zNeP2ytYqG
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 26, 2026
Make no mistake about it, none of this erases the role DSA-aligned candidates have played in knocking off Democrat incumbents through primaries most voters ignore. That mechanism is very much real. But calling it an insurgency implies a hostile minority imposing its will on a resistant majority. The establishment may be worried about electability, but ideologically, they’re all swimming in the same cesspool. The fact is that a majority of Democrats already like what they're being sold. Calling that an insurgency lets the party off easy.
