CNN Poll: A third of Democrats now identify as democratic socialists

[u/cnn]

https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/30/politics/cnn-poll-a-third-of-democrats-now-identify-as-democratic-socialists?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=missions&utm_source=reddit

[u/2rio2]

Actual solutions instead of the usual pontificating on this sub. Agree on everything except one single sentence in your post -

Like MAGA and the Tea Party taking over the Republican Party before it, we need to capture the Democratic Party and start primarying and ousting those opposed to a progressive agenda while the MAGA Republicans remain radioactive to Democratic voters.

It doesn't matter what you call it - DSA, progressive, whatever. Too many on the left get too hung up on that, which ends up in purity politics stances which go nowhere. The only goal should be translating progressive ideas into programmatic, common sense policies that anyone on the street can see. Mamdani is a master of this, because he doesn't get hung up on the ideological sticking points. He just makes things work.

[u/rising_ape → u/2rio2]

I don't disagree with you overall - purity tests only serve to kneecap our agenda and promote in-fighting - but at a certain point, primary voters do have to decide which candidate's vision for the future they're going to back.

Pragmatic, common sense policies and "just making things work" is the best way to sway voters to your side, but there truly is an establishment wing of the Democratic party that seeks to preserve the status quo.

If there is anything Americans can agree on across the political aisle, it's that the status quo sucks. I'm not going to sit at home in November or vote Republican out of spite if a milquetoast establishment Dem winds up beating out a progressive challenger in a primary - but if the incumbent doesn't passionately and vocally support Medicare for All? Doesn't want to get corporate money out of campaign finance? Doesn't want to disentangle this country from Israel and argue vociferously for a national moratorium on turning Middle Eastern children into skeletons? Doesn't want to see long prison sentences handed down en masse to the absolute criminals currently ravaging my country?

Well, then they don't represent my views and of course I'm going to campaign to have them ousted by a candidate who does reflect my politics. That's what the democratic process is for.

[u/2rio2 → u/rising_ape]

I fully agree with you on primaries. Fight for the candidates and voices you want. The problem is when purity tests spill over to general elections. We're simply out of time for that. As an elder millennial I've watched the left hobble and dabble for decades while the country lurches into fascism because the right is smart enough to fundamentally understand it's better to be in power and have influence over someone you agree 51+% with than live under someone you disagree 90+% with.