What Democrats Actually Think of the Party, the DSA and Midterms | WSJ

- Right now, we have got to get Trump, and Trumpism, and Maggot out of our politics. - What if the socialists have solutions that don't work? - A lot of people here want to make this left versus right. Are we going too left because that's so dangerous? - The midterm elections are fast approaching and control of Congress, and a check on President Trump are in question. Analysts favor Democrats to win back the House, and say they have a shot at the Senate too, but the Democratic Party is deeply divided, and the far left is gaining momentum. We brought together voters from across the country to hear what matters most to them in the midterm elections. In one video coming soon, we check in with young men, who voted for President Trump in 2024. Today, we're talking to people who plan to vote Democrat. How do you feel about the Democratic Party in one word? Peter, go for it. - Despondent. - Lori. - Weak. - Natalie? - Rebuilding. - Sam. - Concerned. - Dave. - Uncertain. - Bernice. - Great. - Jovani. - Interesting. - Okay, let's do the DSA. Democratic Socialists of America. - Hate them. - Love him. - Pie in the sky. - Ambitious. - Great. - Radical. - How about Chuck Schumer? - Not up to the task. - Retire. - Old school. - Out of touch. - Boring. - Interesting. - Hakeem Jeffries. Peter. - Middling. - He's bought. - Bad at messaging. - Exciting. - In a difficult position. - Figuring things out. - If Democrats win the majorities, do you guys think Schumer and Jeffries should be the leaders? - I mean, the question is who's going to replace them and what are their priorities going to be? - I am quite concerned about some of the Progressives, that are running for Senate, especially in Michigan. - We are not a purple state. We are a state in need of a movement. To take our politics back. - I think Abdul-Sayed is a particularly concerning candidate. He has gotten a lot of pushback for campaigning with Hasan Piker, who is a very, very radical political commentator. And broadly speaking, I think that is very bad for the Democratic brand. - I think you're completely correct, but I think it's also a little bit scarier than that because Donald Trump is really unpopular now. And because of that, I think Abdul El-Sayed might win. What I'm actually more concerned about is if he wins, what is the Democratic Party going to be like in fighting about in 2028? And if we get a far left Progressive, then I'm afraid we might end up with a President J.D. Vance. - Peter, are you saying that you hope Abdul El-Sayed doesn't win because if he does, it'll send a message that Progressives will be emboldened going into the president? So you would rather lose the Michigan Senate seat. - I would like the Democrats to take the majority, but not at the expense of Sayed winning because I think 2028 and the presidential election is more important. - I paid a lot of attention to Abdul El-Sayed's primary, which he successfully won. And to me, if you believe in a democratic process, the people voted for him as their candidate, and so I hope he wins. - Right now, we have got to get Trump, and Trumpism, and Maggot out of our politics. We need to get back up. And right now we need to be a group that says we're going to go... And if El-Sayed needs to win, if this person and this other person in his state needs to win, we need them to win so that we can get them out, and then we can focus on people that are way too radical and can bring some balance back into the party. - I think one of the things that we saw with the Republican Party is that every time they had a choice as to say we could win with the crazy person or we could say we can't support them, they went with the crazy person. The Democratic party and as Democrats, we said we're going to be better than that, and now we're doing the same thing. - I'm on your side and I agree with that, but that is the losing mindset against what we're dealing with. I agree with what you're saying, but we can't play that way. That's why we lose. - A lot of people here want to make this left versus right. Are we going to left because that's so dangerous? - I'm sorry. That's where the danger is, okay? I'm sick of tired about talking how scary Progressives are. - But what do the socialists have solutions that don't work? - But we're not in a position to be in that mindset, Peter. We have hit such a rock bottom that we have to be in the position of getting back some control so we can make better decisions. - Is Peter the only one here who would rather a Republican win than a Democrat who he deems as too extreme? - Yeah, I agree with what Peter is saying. I believe in putting country over party. I think the interests of the country writ large are more important than winning one Senate seat. - With Michigan, it sounds like for you guys in particular, Israel is a huge issue and response to Israel. We've seen the Democratic Party move strongly away as a whole from a full embrace of Israel. This is not just a democratic socialist or progressive issue now. The majority of Democrats believe the US is doing too much. - Should we stop defense funding to Israel? Probably. Should we ban all trade with Israel? Probably not, but that's not what this is about. It becomes everything instead of like one thing out of many. - Do you think Israel has an out-size impact on American politics? - Yes and no. - You've got AIPAC supporting Republicans, and you've got AIPAC supporting Democrats. So then how are they really supporting us? - But the thing is that when you take a look at AIPAC and it's all about Gaza. There's so much that Democrats actually agree on. I'm for the two state solution. I think what the extremist settlers are doing in the West Bank are really awful. I don't like Netanyahu. In theory, we should all be able to agree with that, but we never talk about that. It's all Gaza all the time. - Because we're the only country that doesn't see it as a genocide. - It's not a genocide. It's a war. - There it is. - Let's broaden a little bit to talk about things that Progressives and democratic socialists also campaigned on, because it was not just Israel. I'm going to just say some things that these folks campaigned on, and I'll have you guys raise your hand if you support them. How about abolishing immigrations and customs enforcement, ICE? - Abolishing ICE the way they are, yes. - How about, how about reform? Reform. - People's safety matters, but reform. - So I'll say this. I think ICE, the way it is right now is a culmination of our worst tendencies towards nationalism. - Yeah. - So while I agree there needs to be immigration control laws and it needs to be followed, I do want to abolish nationalism. - Do you support a Medicare for all healthcare system? - Do you have? - Okay, so everybody but Peter and Sam. I'm in favor of having universal healthcare. I'm in favor of people getting more healthcare. But when, when you say Medicare for All, so much of what the DSA is saying is let's get rid of insurance companies. The real driver of the cost is actually the doctors, the hospital systems. - Do you know how much an ambulance costs in Europe and in Canada? They go free. Okay. When I have an ambulance in the United States is $10,000, why? - The point is not that we shouldn't have healthcare. The point is that we should allow there to be some capitalism in there, some insurance companies so that if you can have. - No, business has no place in healthcare. - I think a lot of people want to change the healthcare system in America, kind of like you do, I think, to benefit the most amount of people. And I think that's an altruistic goal and that's why people, I think, are energized by that message. - So who would you guys like to see run for President in 2028? - I like Talarico. He's kind. - We are a threat. - We're a threat to their corrupt system. - I think I might like John Ossoff. - Oh, I do like himself too. - There's also Mark Kelly. - I would like an Ossoff or a Talarico over a Mark Kelly only because I think we need to see some youth in our leadership. - What we do is we split up so much, and the Republican got a good idea of making us split up. The word is focus. So I like them all. I really do. All of them sound good. But you know, all of them that bad on the eyes too. I'm old, but I can still see pretty good. - Sam, this would be your first presidential election, right? Who excites you? - Still undecided. I think it really depends on who ends up running. I think in terms of electability, I like that Governor Beshear take a governor of a southern red state, I think is a pretty good indicator that he could have some national appeal just purely from an electability standpoint. - But I think Bernice had a really good point, which was the focus. I think that once we have our candidate, our voices need to be so loud, and we need to be really, really solid in on messaging. - It's very clear there's different, an ideological divide between you all, and the type of candidates you'd like to see. Are you all on board with whoever it is, whether it's Beshear from the centrist wing, or, you know, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez? If they're the nominee, would you support them and try to get them elected? - 100% yes, I would. - Yeah, if I had to, but I would not be necessarily happy about that. - You know, what we're against, we're going to have to focus on what we're fighting for, and we're going to have to focus on the core of serving and helping people. - You need to find people who will speak to younger generations who notoriously do not vote and appeal to them. And if, to Bernice's point, if we're supposed to link arms and join forces, and all be on the same side to win elections, then quibbling about things that are, have nothing to do with the candidate, I think are a massive waste of time. - But if it's not a quibble, they have to bring in more people than they turn off. - You guys, this has been such a good conversation. Thank you guys so much for being so generous with your time. - We'll get back together again. - We need to do this again. - Yeah. Maybe we check back in as the 2028 field starts to shape up, which will likely be in about six months.