Will Americans take a radical turn?

In two much anticipated Democratic primary matchups in midwestern states—one for the U.S. Senate in Michigan and another for a congressional seat in Missouri, the future of the Democratic Party and the issue of Israel was front and center. One might wonder how the Israel-Palestine conflict became a litmus test for the self-proclaimed progressives, either identified as socialists or supported by them, when one would normally associate that group with economic concerns. The answer is that during the last decades of the 20th century, Yaser Arafat and the Palestinian Liberation Front were able to situate their struggle in the same frame as that of the third world over against rapacious and imperialist capitalism.

While earlier Democratic Socialists had greater sympathies for Israel both in light of the Holocaust and its collectivist beginnings, that situation has changed completely as Israel has become seen as the ally of American capitalism in the Middle East. Today, there is no ambiguity at all as Democratic Socialists and their progressive allies openly castigate Israel and make Palestinian support an article of faith.

The headline contest in Michigan took place between Democratic Socialist ally Abdul El-Sayed and the more establishment Democrat Haley Stevens. The implications for national politics in that race are enormous. Michigan has been a swing state for presidents and governors, even as it has not had a Republican U.S. senator since Spencer Abraham in 2001. Should El-Sayed win, which seems likely as this column goes to press, it appears that Republican Mike Rogers would have a better chance of victory than he would against the more moderate (and friendlier to Israel) Haley Stevens.

In a midterm year where a strong election could result in Democratic capture of the Senate, there is little doubt the party’s establishment preferred Stevens and spent many tens of millions of dollars to hold Michigan. El-Sayed has delighted in pointing out that dynamic to his supporters. He is running explicitly against the party as being corrupt and out of touch in a time that calls for bolder proposals such as his single-payer Medicare for All program.

Republican Mike Rogers sits on the sidelines, likely hoping for an El-Sayed win. Given that Rogers, a several term member of Congress and former FBI agent, came within less than 20,000 votes of winning a Senate seat just two years ago against a mainstream Democrat, one suspects he could carry the ball across the line against a more controversial candidate such as El-Sayed.

Should El-Sayed prevail in the primary and lose a Senate seat Democrats in Michigan have held for a quarter century, the story of the electoral appeal of Democratic Socialists in America and allies will look considerably different than it has in the past, given their considerable momentum in recent months. Up until now, the Democrat Party establishment has been its heels as a number of long-term office holders have been dispatched by their upstart challengers.

A similar conflict, but without the immediate strategic significance, took place in Missouri in the race between Wesley Bell and Cori Bush. When Bell defeated Bush of the progressive “Squad” for a congressional seat representing St. Louis in 2024, he did so with major support from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which has been unwilling to see its support in the Democratic party dissolve before the Democratic Socialist wave. Bush’s campaign to take the seat back started almost as soon as that close contest was decided two years ago.

The rematch has been watched closely as an electoral test for the Democratic Socialists of America, who have hit American politics with increasing force since the presidential campaigns of Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020. The early call for Bush’s more establishment Democratic opponent was a setback after a string of recent victories. These Midwestern races will help us fill out the picture of Democratic Socialism’s prospects in the United States. Should Democrats lose Michigan, it will greatly complicate their plans to take the Senate.

While Israel has been a surprisingly dominant issue in these elections, the broader question for Americans confronting Democratic Socialism will come down to their confidence and belief in the value of the American experiment. Do citizens of the United States still believe that the constitutional design brought about by the founding generation and modified in incremental fashion over two-and-a-half centuries is still something they want to protect?

Do they believe in limited government and core concepts such as the separation of powers and checks and balances? Or are we, staring into the future, coming to believe achievements we once held in great regard are now outmoded and that we want something that acts to accommodate progressivist power and passion? Is our Constitution worth preserving? Until now, we have considered limits on power a feature rather than a bug. Democratic Socialists are prompting Americans to either stop taking their Constitution for granted or to go along with a radical break. Watch carefully, for these candidates represent nothing less than a truly radical break.