USA Today columnist decries “dangerous ideology” while Mamdani embraces “seizing means of production” rhetoric–51% of young voters now support democratic socialism
The Socialist Moment: How Mamdani and Wilson Embody Rising Support for Democratic Socialism Among Young Americans
USA TODAY columnist Ingrid Jacques penned an opinion piece warning Americans after Seattle and NYC elected “socialist” mayors, arguing: “It’s baffling that Americans are falling for such a dangerous ideology. But they are. Mamdani and Wilson have put a shiny bow on their socialist ideas, and voters bought it. Beware what comes next.” The column reflects broader conservative anxiety about a political moment where socialist electoral victories occur not despite opposition, but partly because younger demographics increasingly embrace socialist frameworks.
The National Security Subtext: Congressional Action and Terrorism Rhetoric
Shortly before Mamdani’s meeting with Trump, Congress marked its concern with the country’s largest city now having a socialist as mayor by passing a resolution denouncing the horrors of socialism, 285-98, with 86 Democrats joining the Republican majority, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. This congressional response–treating mayoral election as matter warranting national legislative action–demonstrates the political significance opponents assign to Mamdani’s victory. According to a press release from resolution sponsor Rep. María Elvira Salazar, “The resolution outlines some of the most brutal crimes committed by socialist regimes in the Soviet Union, China, Cambodia, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela, demonstrating that wherever socialism has taken root, the results have been the same: famine, repression, death, economic ruin, and the loss of human freedom.”
Young Voters Embracing Democratic Socialism: The Polling Reality
A recent poll of likely voters from The Heartland Institute and Rasmussen Reports showed that 51% of young Americans, ages 18-39, would like to see a democratic socialist in the White House. This polling number–representing plurality support among young voters for socialist national leadership–fundamentally changes the political calculation. Jacques’ warning essentially acknowledges that she is addressing an electorate whose ideological composition differs substantially from her own generation’s political formation.
Mamdani’s “Seizing the Means of Production” Rhetoric: The Underlying Ideology
While Mamdani has demurred from Trump’s “communist” label, preferring the more palatable-sounding “democratic socialist,” some of the ideas he’s advocated get uncomfortably close. For example, when speaking at the 2021 Young Democratic Socialists of America conference, he said that socialists like himself “firmly believe in” the “end goal of seizing the means of production”–something he admitted may not be popular at the moment but nevertheless deserved to be promoted, with seizing the means of production being a central tenet of communism.
Katie Wilson: The Seattle Parallel and Generational Pattern
The Democratic Socialists of America celebrated their biggest ballot victory yet as Zohran Mamdani won in New York City, while socialist Katie Wilson was elected to lead Seattle, with both candidates making history as their cities’ first millennial mayors. Running on affordability agendas, they built their campaigns around bold progressive ideas, from universal childcare to city-run grocery stores, funded by a tax hike on the wealthy. Wilson’s victory surprised many in western Washington due to her political experience, or lack thereof, and her staunch socialist ideas, with Jacques writing about Wilson’s campaign platform: “I want everyone in this great city of ours to have a roof over their head. I want universal child care, free K-8 summer care I want social housing. I want much more land and wealth to be owned and stewarded by communities instead of corporations.”
The Nepo Baby Critique: Wilson and Class Contradiction
Critics have highlighted contradictions in Wilson’s positioning, noting that “Wilson seems to want to benefit personally from her campaign ideas. She has admitted to needing financial help from her parents to help pay for child care,” with Jacques sarcastically noting: “Guess what? All of those things are extremely costly.” Wilson credited her parents with helping her run her campaign for mayor, saying “They send me a check periodically to help with the child care expenses,” noting daycare for her kids cost about $2,200 per month.
The Broader DSA Electoral Movement: Historical Analogy and Current Scale
There are now at least 135 DSAers and DSA-affiliated city council members, 64 state legislators, 21 school board members, 6 mayors, and three members of Congress, with Mamdani’s November victory speech referencing Eugene Debs: “The sun may have set over our city this evening, but as Eugene Debs once said: ‘I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity.'” Historically, between 1900 and 1912, the Socialist Party had its greatest electoral success, and while Debs lost presidential races, that year 1,200 members of the Socialist Party held public office, from school boards to Congress, including 79 mayors in cities such as Milwaukee, Buffalo, Minneapolis, Reading and Schenectady.
Conservative Strategy: Making Mamdani National Democratic Face
President Donald Trump and his allies have called New York’s socialist mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani a Communist, a Marxist, a terrorist, and even a jihadist, warning that the U.S. is experiencing a wave of “socialism,” a term that they hope still carries its hoary Cold War connotations and seeking to make Mamdani the face of the Democratic Party–a tactic intended to discredit its candidates in swing races.
The Policy Feasibility Question: Beyond Campaign Rhetoric
Observers expect that Mamdani may be “more show than dough” on many of his biggest issues, with expectations that he will be most effective in areas like policing and education, though much of his economic agenda may not be achievable as mayor, with state-level approval required for tax increases and major policy changes. Similarly, Seattle observers predict that Mamdani “will be flashy and do damage, but not kill the city” given New York City’s economic resilience, whereas Seattle “may not be so lucky” given smaller economic depth.
The Ideological Divide: What Constitutes “Dangerous” Politics
Jacques’ warning reflects genuine ideological divergence about what constitutes threat. To conservative commentators, democratic socialism itself represents the danger–the embrace of collective ownership and government intervention in market allocation. To younger voters supporting such positions, the danger involves unchecked capitalism, wealth inequality, and unaffordable housing and health care. The debate is not about factual disagreements but about fundamentally different assessments of what political economy serves human flourishing.
Historical Context: Red Scare Versus Contemporary Socialism
During the Red Scare hysteria of the 1950s, American socialism fell on hard times, with few Americans distinguishing between European social-welfare systems and the communism of the Soviet Union or China, and across the nation, universities, labor unions, public schools, movie studios and other major institutions purged themselves of their left-wingers. The contemporary moment inverts that pattern: despite historical warnings about socialism, or perhaps because younger voters were not exposed to Cold War propaganda, support for democratic socialism among young Americans is rising significantly.
The National Spread: Washington D.C. and the “Mamdani Model”
In Washington D.C., city councilor Janeese Lewis George has announced candidacy for mayor following Mamdani’s model, focusing on concerns around public safety, cost of living, and public services issues, while emphasizing: “Too many residents still feel squeezed financially, from unaffordable housing to childcare, and feel unsafe in their neighborhoods.” The emergence of multiple “Mamdani-style” candidates nationally suggests that urban voters across regions increasingly respond to democratic socialist framing around economic inequality and municipal service delivery.
Conservative Reorientation: From Red Scare to “Socialism Alarm”
The Jacques column and congressional resolution represent conservative attempts to resurrect Cold War-era opposition to socialism, now applied to contemporary municipal governance. Whether such messaging resonates depends partly on whether Mamdani and Wilson’s administrations deliver materially better outcomes for constituents. If municipal socialism produces housing, improved transit, and affordability gains, opposition messaging will face credibility challenges. Conversely, if promised transformation fails to materialize, skepticism about socialist governance will intensify. The genuine political question involves whether the political economy these mayors propose can function effectively within municipal constraints and capitalist national economy.
