The facts
Sixty national, state and local Democratic candidates, including 10 sitting members of Congress, have signed a pledge with a new group, Promise to America, declaring "we are capitalist, not socialist." Democrats in tight races are declaring their support for capitalism in social media posts, town halls and TV appearances, worried that Republican accusations of socialism and communism could sway critical swing voters this November.
"This is the first time in my 50 years in politics that Democrats have had to explicitly declare their support for capitalism," said Doug Schoen, a veteran party strategist.
Trump and his allies have highlighted victories by members of the left-wing Democratic Socialists of America movement and progressive candidates in Democratic primaries to portray the whole party as socialist. "It's going to be a communist country if they win," Trump said of the Democrats at a Republican convention in Dallas in September.
The star exhibit is Amish Shah, an emergency room doctor locked in a tight Arizona House race. During his time in the Arizona state legislature he was viewed as one of the party's most moderate Democrats, even occasionally breaking with his party to vote with Republicans. Yet, in September the NRCC sent mailers with a caricature of him in a red suit with a hammer-and-sickle pin, a symbol of communism, warning of his "radical socialist agenda." The attack stems from a 2019 event co-hosted by a DSA chapter, where Shah praised US Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, and his call for government-funded universal healthcare. Shah has since adopted a more moderate position on healthcare, backing a public insurance option alongside private plans, and the Republican attacks forced the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to defend him with an ad last week highlighting his support for a 2022 Republican-backed anti-drug trafficking bill. "I'm not a socialist. I believe in capitalism as a great tool for promoting human prosperity," Shah told Reuters.
Representative Kristen McDonald Rivet of Michigan signed the pledge too. Her Republican opponent, Tom Smith, has dubbed her "communist comrade Rivet" for her 2023 vote backing incentives for a Chinese-owned battery parts plant in Michigan. "Republicans think they can take out candidates in marginal races by screaming socialism at the top of their lungs," Rivet told Reuters.
Promise to America was formed by moderate Democrats in June after a series of democratic socialist primary victories raised concerns within the party about its political direction. "Our aim is to get more candidates for Congress and local officials to proudly proclaim they are capitalist and patriots," said the group's director, Felix Frisch.
Reuters also spoke to Eliott Rodriguez, a former television journalist standing as a House candidate in South Florida and the son of Cuban immigrants. His Republican opponent, Representative Maria Elvira Salazar, says voters face a choice between her and "a socialist." Rodriguez argues Salazar should be considered a communist for not criticizing Trump's recent moves to limit some media outlets from White House coverage. "That's what communists do in places like China, Cuba, North Korea," Rodriguez said. "I am the product of capitalism and free enterprise."
Democrats are still favored to win back the US House, and a Reuters/Ipsos poll published last week found registered voters favored Democrats over Republicans by 43% to 35% in the congressional ballot. But strategists fear the attacks could bite on the margins. "These attacks could impact enough voters on the margin to potentially affect Democrats negatively in the election," said Frank Lowenstein, a former official in President Barack Obama's administration and now a political consultant. Suzan DelBene, a congresswoman and chair of the DCCC, said Republicans were turning to ideological attacks because they could not defend their record on the economy and consumer prices. "Republicans already know they've lost the American people, and that's why they are resorting to desperate attacks that aren't actually about the pocketbook issues," DelBene said in a statement.
Our take
Holy fuck, sixty Democrats, including ten current congresspeople, just signed a pledge saying 'we are capitalist, not socialist.' What a fucking embarrassment. It's like they're trying to convince everyone they're not wearing a pair of Groucho Marx glasses - but with more commas and semicolons. Doug Schoen, a guy who's been around the block fifty times, says this is unprecedented. Yeah, because normally Democrats just assume people trust them, not realizing they'd sell their grandma for a swing voter vote.
Take Amish Shah, an emergency room doctor turned politician who's running for office in Arizona. He's got a great story - until he attended a DSA event in 2019 and praised Bernie Sanders. Suddenly he's getting mailers with hammer-and-sickle imagery, and now he's scrambling to prove he's not a socialist. He tells Reuters, 'I'm not a socialist. I believe in capitalism as a great tool for promoting human prosperity,' which sounds suspiciously like something a State Department intern wrote during a lunch break. And then there's the DCCC stepping in to save his bacon with an ad highlighting his support for a Republican-backed anti-drug trafficking bill. Because nothing says 'I'm a strong Democrat' like voting with Republicans sometimes.
This gets even better. Kristen McDonald Rivet from Michigan signed the pledge too, after her Republican opponent started calling her 'communist comrade Rivet.' Oh, and let's not forget Eliott Rodriguez in South Florida, who's accusing his opponent Maria Elvira Salazar of being a communist because she didn't trash Trump for limiting media access to the White House. You'd think these people would come up with something original, but nope, it's just a bunch of politicians throwing mud at each other like a bunch of drunken toddlers.
The numbers? Democrats are still favored to win the House, 43-35. But apparently that's not enough - they need to shit themselves in public to prove they're not socialists. As Suzan DelBene puts it, 'Republicans already know they've lost the American people, and that's why they are resorting to desperate attacks that aren't actually about the pocketbook issues.' Yeah, because signing a pledge saying you love capitalism isn't a desperate attempt to cling to power.
