The growing number of candidates embracing socialist ideology in the US has sparked a debate questioning the direction of the Democratic Party and the country's political future. Political veterans say this rise is the product of an ideological transformation that has been underway for decades in educational and cultural institutions, and that failing to counter it will have serious consequences.
New York Republican Assemblywoman Inna Vernikov told Fox News Digital, "KGB defector Yuri Bezmenov warned nearly 40 years ago about plans for a 'great brainwashing' to undermine America and the West." Vernikov added, "What we are seeing now is definitely not a 'grassroots movement'; it is the effect of decades-long campaigns to destroy American thought and the American way of life."
The long march through the institutions
Heritage Foundation senior fellow Mike Gonzalez attributed this development to the "long march through the institutions" strategy. Gonzalez said, "the cultural left has captured the K-12 school system, higher education, arts venues, media, entertainment, and museums."
Citing a new White House report, Gonzalez said the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History has become a taxpayer-funded institution of "ideological capture" and "extreme political activism." "People think America is exceptional because it is rich and powerful, which is a complete misunderstanding of American exceptionalism," Gonzalez said, adding that America derives its sovereignty from the concept of natural rights, but figures like New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani are taught that "America is structurally oppressive and systemically racist."
The shift in the Democratic Party
While the disappearance of "moderates" within the Democratic Party has been widely debated in recent months, Gonzalez attributed it to the "destruction" of moderate Democrats in red and purple districts during the Obama era. During Obama's presidency, Democrats lost more than 1,000 elected offices nationwide, including 63 House seats, 12 Senate seats, 12 governorships, and about 940 state legislative seats.
Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf said the political divide in the US has now essentially been reduced to two groups: those who love the country and those who don't. Sheinkopf said, "If you hate this country, it doesn't matter whether you're a Republican or a Democrat. If someone hates the country, you have to do everything you can to stop them."
Goals of the Democratic Socialists
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has adopted an updated platform that includes calls to abolish the US Senate, change the Electoral College, defund police departments, and abolish prisons. Many conservatives view these calls as an assault on the constitutional framework and the public safety system.
Trump's communism warning
President Donald Trump, in a speech at Mount Rushmore earlier this month, described communism as the "greatest threat" facing the US. Trump said, "This is the greatest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, and even 9/11. We will not let this happen to us."
Gonzalez warned, "Mamdani talks to you about collectivism, that's one of the ways you know he's a communist, but he doesn't tell you what follows collectivism: collectivism is followed by gulags, and Marx himself tells you why gulags follow collectivism." "America needs to understand that there is a specter haunting America, communism. They need to wake up to this."
