Young Dems’ radicalism threatens to doom their party in midterms — and beyond

Energy is the word of the day, week, month, and years to come in the Democratic Party.

As progressive challengers take on — and often dispatch — establishment figures in primaries from sea to shining sea, their movement has earned rounds of applause for its vitality.

Former President Barack Obama, for example, has deemed New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani an “extraordinary talent.”

Ex-Vice President Kamala Harris has praised him for “bringing people in,” marveling that it’s “so powerful.”

Three far-left congressional candidates endorsed by the mayor prevailed in the Big Apple last month; Graham Platner retired Gov. Janet Mills before primary day in Maine and has been replaced on the ballot by a fellow traveler; and Abdul El-Sayed has gone from underdog to favorite in his race against Haley Stevens in Michigan.

Energy, momentum, dynamism: whatever you want to call it, this faction has it in spades, in large part thanks to the young voters who have propelled them to victory — and ushered in an entirely new era for their party.

A new Manhattan Institute survey of 1,121 likely voters across the country leaves little doubt as to whether this is a blip on the radar or a taste of the courses to come.

Among left-leaning respondents between the age of 18 and 34, 67% identify as democratic socialists.

Among those between 35 and 49, that figure drops, but is still 56%.

Even among 50 to 64-year-olds, 45% are reaching for their hammers and sickles.

The forecast for Team Blue is red — with a string of inevitable electoral disappointments.

Because what’s popular among the ascendant majority in the Democratic base is not among the American majority that decides elections.

“There is a reason why Republicans nationwide are licking their chops,” observed CNN data guru Harry Enten during one recent segment about the Democratic Socialists of America’s dismal net favorability rating of negative 27 points.

Sixty-six percent of Democrats have a positive view of “socialism” more generally, up from 50% in 2010.

Among the public at large, though, that figure has hardly changed at all: 29% in 2010, 30% now.

In short, Democrats keep moving further left, even as America stays where it is.

The Manhattan Institute poll yielded still more bad news for Democrats.

On a wide variety of discrete policy issues, Americans continue to embrace a common sense and reject the DSA approach.

Fifty-three percent want to “crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse” within the welfare system, while just 31% want to “make it easier to eligible people to receive welfare benefits.”

Sixty-five percent identify the objective of government assistance has “making sure everyone has a basic minimum,” rather than “reducing the gap between the rich and the poor” (21%).

And even though the Democrats have long since renounced Bill Clinton’s efforts at triangulation, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act he signed into law in 1996 remains enormously popular.

The DSA’s calls for the abolition of police, prisons, and borders, on the other hand, are underwater by 72, 67, and 64 points, respectively.

This should be a banner year for Democrats. RealClearPolitics pegs President Trump’s net approval rating at nearly negative 18.

Yet most generic ballot polls suggest Democrats are only outpacing their Republican opponents by a few points — some even say they’re all knotted up.

In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins has gained the upper hand since Platner dropped out and subsequently replaced by a less charismatic copycat.

In Michigan, one recent survey showed Republican Mike Rogers whooping El-Sayed by double digits.

And per Quinnipiac, more Americans (46%) view Democrats as too extreme than see Republicans (40%) as the same.

Insulated from reality by their media allies, Democrats tend to blame disappointing Election Days on their messaging, SuperPACs, disinformation, less-than-compelling candidates — everything but their ideas.

But if they underperform in the House and all but forfeit winnable Senate seats during the midterm cycle of Donald Trump’s second term, they’ll have a verdict on just how much their precious enthusiasm is worth outside of the confines of deep blue cities and low-turnout primary contests.

Just don’t expect them to take it to heart; the “energy” is working against them.