It’s one thing to dislike Democratic Socialists of America and/or fear the movement’s ascendancy in Democratic politics. It's a whole ‘nother thing for a Democratic group to declare war against DSA while Donald Trump swings his corrupt wrecking ball to our country, our economy and our democracy every damn day.
But here we are. Via the August 6 New York Times: “’We are preparing for the next war that is coming,’ said Jonathan Cowan, the president of Third Way, a leading centrist Democratic group, revealing to The New York Times a new $15 million effort between now and 2028 to discredit democratic socialism.”
Cowan also told The Times the $15 million would be spent to target the “mortal danger” to Democrats of the DSA movement, not individual candidates. Yet The Times also reported that Cowan said the money will “target both proud democratic socialists and those such as Dr. El-Sayed, whom he derided as performing the ‘D.S.A. dodge’ — flirting with democratic socialists enough to get their organizing manpower and support while remaining distant enough to avoid the explicit label.”
The group also plans to spend $140,00-$150,000 for a “Director of Anti-Extremism.” Or, as Jared Holt put it, someone working “to dig up dirt on DSA members.” He posted some of the job’s daily tasks from the job listing. They include creating “a database of the DSA’s most extreme ideas and statements and a repository of voting records, affiliations, and issue positions” to give to “allies and partners;” “Leading public opinion research” to be used to “move base voters away from these extreme candidates;” and “Recruiting and arming a group of young, diverse spokespeople to fight the DSA from a center-left perspective.”
Look, I understand concerns about DSA. But if ever there were a time for a big tent to resist the existential threat of Trumpism, this is it. Instead of trying to squelch the popularity of DSA’s positions, why isn’t Third Way trying to better them?
Here’s one likely reason: It turns out some of the big funders of this war against Medicare for all, among other things, are the health insurance industry.
