Identity politics

A majority of Democrats prefer socialism but not capitalism, according to a Gallup poll published Monday, and rumblings by Democrats have led to speculation about the future of their party.

While the rate of Democrats who view socialism positively, 57 percent, has not materially increased from 2010, the poll found Democrats who view capitalism positively dropped from 56 percent to 47 percent. (Respondents were asked about their views on each ideology separately.) Just 16 percent of Republicans viewed socialism favorably, compared to 71 percent who backed capitalism. Overall, a 56 percent majority of Americans have a positive view of capitalism.

Meanwhile, the so-called democratic-socialist movement is growing: Membership in the Democratic Socialists of America organization swelled from 6,000 in recent years to 45,000 in July. The newest face for the movement is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a political newcomer who trounced 10-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley in their New York Democratic primary race. That upset, paired with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., winning 23 states in the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, has left the party split over whether to ride the socialist surge or backpedal.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., insisted that “the Democratic Party is not a socialist party,” but Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez hailed Ocasio-Cortez as “the future of our party.”

Progressive stances on universal healthcare, a higher minimum wage, free higher education, and the abolition of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency have grown in popularity among Democrats. A third of Senate Democrats and two-thirds of House Democrats have endorsed Sanders’ universal healthcare plan.

But researchers at George Mason University pointed out Sanders’ “Medicare for All” would cost taxpayers $32.6 trillion over the first 10 years.

“Half of voters already think the Democratic Party is too extreme, so embracing socialist policies … will only make Democrats more out of touch,” tweeted Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel.

Democratic-socialist candidates may be banking on young voters to give them a seat at the table. The Gallup poll found that 51 percent of Americans ages 18 to 29 view socialism favorably, compared to 45 percent who support capitalism. But young people may be an undependable bloc: A Pew study found that only 28 percent from that age group actually plan to vote in November’s midterm elections, compared with 74 percent of seniors.

The question remains whether the Democratic Party will marshal young voters to the polls or whether the democratic-socialist movement will fade out with age.

Jeff Sessions prepares to take the stage for a speech Aug. 9 in Macon, Ga. Associated Press/Photo by John Amis

Complaint dismissed

The leadership of the United Methodist Church (UMC)in Alabama recently dismissed a complaint against U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions for violating the church’s tenets by enforcing the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

Some 600 clergy and members of the denomination had signed a letter to the pastors of his local church in Alabama and to a church he attends near Washington, D.C., that charged him with child abuse over his part in enforcing a policy that separated children from their parents who immigrated into the United States illegally. The letter also charged Sessions with immorality, racial discrimination, and dissemination of doctrines contrary to those of the UMC, pointing to his use of Scripture in defending the policy.

The denomination’s Alabama–West Florida Conference, which has jurisdiction over Sessions’ home church, dismissed the complaint, concluding its judicial processes could not be used against Sessions for his political actions.

“In this matter, Attorney General Jeff Sessions was carrying out the official policy of the President and/or the United States Department of Justice,” Bishop David Graves said in a statement. “It was not an individual act. We believe this type of conduct is not covered by the chargeable offense provisions of the Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church, 2016, for laypersons.”

The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment on the matter.

David Wright, a chaplain at the University of Puget Sound and an ordained UMC minister, initiated the effort to discipline Sessions. He called the decision an “abdication of both pastoral and social responsibility” and said the church leadership in Alabama had “told our denomination and our world that we as United Methodists have no personal or corporate responsibility for a member of our church whose direct and personal creation and implementation of a national policy rooted in racism causes tremendous physical, spiritual, and emotional harm to our fellow human beings.”

But Mark Tooley, a lifelong United Methodist and president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a Washington think tank that advocates for orthodoxy within mainline denominations, wrote that the denomination was correct in dismissing the charges, which he called “a publicity stunt endorsed by hundreds of activist United Methodists online.”

But he warned that the rationale used by church leaders to dismiss the complaint, while technically correct under church policy, “implied the church has no concern about political conduct by church members.” —Anne K. Walters

Jeff Sessions prepares to take the stage for a speech Aug. 9 in Macon, Ga. Associated Press/Photo by John Amis

Gag orders

In an unusual legal maneuver, President Donald Trump is trying to hold former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman responsible for breaching a nondisclosure agreement by publishing her tell-all book, Unhinged: An Insider Account of the Trump White House.

Manigault Newman signed the contract in question with the Trump campaign in 2016. Private entities in business and entertainment often use the consensual documents, and Trump still faces a legal battle about one put in place during his campaign over his alleged relationship with pornographic film actress Stephanie Clifford (aka Stormy Daniels).

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday it’s common for people in government to sign nondisclosure agreements, particularly anyone with a security clearance. But the agreements have never been common for White House staff until this administration.

Public officials sign them, but only in relation to content—namely classified information—according to David Iglesias, who directs the Wheaton College Center for Faith, Politics, and Economics.

Iglesias has signed several nondisclosure agreements with government employers during his career, including in his roles as a White House fellow and a U.S. Navy officer.

“[Manigault Newman’s] would appear to cover nonclassified info,” Iglesias told me. “There are significant problems with trying to enforce that. Anything nonclassified is considered information in the public interest.”

Manigault Newman maintains she never signed a nondisclosure agreement while working at the White House, a distinction that could prove important. Legal experts told The Washington Post that her broadly worded agreement with the campaign may not apply to her time spent employed by taxpayers—when she worked on issues of public concern. —Laura Finch

Fighting words

The Boston Globe led a coordinated effort by newspapers across the country Thursday to defend press freedom from perceived attacks by President Donald Trump. More than 300 papers, according to Globe estimates, published editorials rebutting a Trump tweet earlier this month that called the “Fake News” the “Enemy of the People” and “very dangerous and sick.” Trump denounced the effort Thursday morning on Twitter, writing, “THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA IS THE OPPOSITION PARTY. It is very bad for our Great Country....BUT WE ARE WINNING!”

The media campaign got a boost from the U.S. Senate, which unanimously passed a resolution Thursday afternoon affirming that “the press is not the enemy of the people” and is “integral to the democratic foundations of the United States.” Not all newspapers joined the chorus, and some journalists expressed reservations. The Baltimore Sun wrote that the campaign fed the narrative that the press is out to get Trump. And Nolan Finley, editorial page editor for The Detroit News wrote, “Donald Trump is not responsible for the eroding trust in the media. He lacks the credibility to pull that off. The damage to our standing is self-inflicted.” —Lynde Langdon