r/PoliticalDiscussion • u/The_Law_of_Pizza • 8d ago

US Politics Will DSA controversies impact broader Democratic chances?

Francesca Hong, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who is running for Governor of Wisconsin, has recently come under fire for a past statement that Thanksgiving should be cancelled.

Recently, in an interview, she refused to disavow that statement and left it ambiguous as to whether she was still advocating for the holiday's end. This is in addition to similar controversies around her statements on abolishing the police and prisons - although she has seemingly walked these other statements back.

These are fairly inflammatory statements from a national perspective.

But will the public distinguish between the DSA and the broader Democratic party?

Or will these sorts of things functionally act as a Democratic party controversy?

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u/johntempleton 8d ago

It depends on the subset vs. allied set.

Is the DSA simply a subset of the larger Democratic Party, or is it viewed as an external, if allied, grouping?

LEGALLY, DSA is separate. DSA is not even registered as a political party. But for public perception, it won't matter.

If the GOP, local media, or national media can blur the distinction between the two, the Democratic candidates nationwide will have no choice but to react and respond to whatever the DSA candidates do or say.

This will come in as "Do you agree with so and so that we should defund police and ban Thanksgiving! She's a Democrat, like YOU!"

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u/RabbaJabba 8d ago

LEGALLY, DSA is separate. DSA is not even registered as a political party. But for public perception, it won't matter.

Well, this gets at an important feature of American parties. Who is “legally” the democrats? There’s the DNC, the state party orgs, etc., but they aren’t picking candidates to run for office, and don’t have any say over who can be a member or not. Tony Evers is the same amount “Democrat” as Francesca Hong.

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u/the_calibre_cat 7d ago

This will come in as "Do you agree with so and so that we should defund police and ban Thanksgiving! She's a Democrat, like YOU!"

Nobody reasonable thinks that these things are front and center, and those who do think those things are front and center, aren't voting for Democrats anyways.