Tuesday Primary Open Thread: The Sagging Socialism in Massachusetts
It's primary day here in Massachusetts!
That means we get a firsthand look at DSA's influence (or lack thereof) on state politics. The Massachusetts DSA chapter is small, with 3,400 members largely based in Boston and its surrounding communities. Like all DSA chapters, they are disproportionately White, loud, and think they know what's best for black and brown communities. Despite having nearly doubled in size since the Trump regime returned to power, Massachusetts DSA has failed to gain traction in local and state elections. They've brought forth a slate of candidates (pictured above) that represents a series of incumbents and challenges to eight targeted races. Of course, the highlight is the maddening inconsistency of the endorsements. While they are hoping to elect candidates challenging incumbents and those vying for open seats, they're also endorsing some of their veteran champions, including Senator Ed Markey, who has been in Congress since the Ford Administration. But remember, kids: you aren't a Washington, DC insider if you happen to believe in Medicare-For-All and the Green New Deal. And an eighty-year-old White man running for office is no problem as long as your name doesn't rhyme with Mo Fiden.
That means we get a firsthand look at DSA's influence (or lack thereof) on state politics. The Massachusetts DSA chapter is small, with 3,400 members largely based in Boston and its surrounding communities. Like all DSA chapters, they are disproportionately White, loud, and think they know what's best for black and brown communities. Despite having nearly doubled in size since the Trump regime returned to power, Massachusetts DSA has failed to gain traction in local and state elections. They've brought forth a slate of candidates (pictured above) that represents a series of incumbents and challenges to eight targeted races. Of course, the highlight is the maddening inconsistency of the endorsements. While they are hoping to elect candidates challenging incumbents and those vying for open seats, they're also endorsing some of their veteran champions, including Senator Ed Markey, who has been in Congress since the Ford Administration. But remember, kids: you aren't a Washington, DC insider if you happen to believe in Medicare-For-All and the Green New Deal. And an eighty-year-old White man running for office is no problem as long as your name doesn't rhyme with Mo Fiden.
All DSA jokes aside, we also have a chance to see if the overt antisemitism from groups like Track AIPAC is effective in trying to win seats. It's telling that their slate of candidates includes two White dudes trying to unseat incumbents and also a rare open congressional seat in MA-06, where Track AIPAC has shown itself to be oh-so-brave by co-endorsing two candidates instead of one. By hedging its bet, Track AIPAC is hoping to claim some sort of win tonight, but even that seems doubtful, as their chosen candidates are likely vying for second and third place in that particular race. Oddly enough, Track AIPAC and Boston DSA have taken divergent endorsements in this race, with Boston DSA explicitly recommending a NO on Tram Nguyen and two other candidates. As someone who worked in the MA-06 district for years, it's been amusing to see candidates try to navigate these competing endorsements without selling out. It's almost as if groups like DSA and Track AIPAC have no rhyme or reason to their endorsements and are simply stringing candidates along, hoping that they'll change their views prior to Election Day.
And that is why we'll end up seeing significant losses for both of them this evening. While there are legitimate reasons for challengers to take on incumbents this year (being out of touch with constituents, refusing to debate opponents, previous votes not meeting the urgency of the moment), the combined DSA/Track AIPAC slate of candidates is once again overwhelmingly mediocre first-time individuals hoping that they can win over constituents by subtly blaming Jews for all of today's problems. That strategy may have worked in New York City, but statewide Massachusetts is a different animal. Based on what we're seeing on the ground here, DSA and Track AIPAC seem poised to lose their priority races simply because Massachusetts voters aren't willing to change a horse midstream. In a state with an all-blue congressional delegation and a supermajority in both the state House and Senate, voters as a whole seem unlikely to change course, especially knowing how critical Democratic control of government will be with Trump remaining in the White House. While DSA and Track AIPAC have been able to weaponize the issue of Israel in other, more prominent races, Massachusetts voters couldn't care less about Gaza and instead are focusing on the issues here at home.
It's been refreshing to see their waning influence here in my home state. DSA is a parasite, and the fewer of them we can have in local and state government, the better. We already have Ayanna Pressley in Congress, and while she's been one of the more "tame" members of the Squad, she still can go wildly off-key and sabotage a vote, as we saw her do multiple times during the Biden Administration. Massachusetts needs reliable blue voters in Congress and seems poised to do so based on the anticipated results of this evening. When all is said and done, it may very well be possible that DSA ends the night having re-elected its small number of incumbents and not having flipped a single seat where they brought forth a first-time challenger. That result would be ideal for all of us, as it would be the clearest signal yet that Massachusetts doesn't want these upper-middle-class White yuppies mucking up the Democrats' supermajority in state government. It would force DSA back to the drawing board and would likely cause them to reevaluate their strategy of trying to infiltrate the Massachusetts Democratic Party as a means to try to build their own brand within the party that they are sworn to hate. That lost time and resources would benefit the "Establishment" and would allow us to be even better prepared to take them on in 2028.
A battle we all know is coming.
And that is why we'll end up seeing significant losses for both of them this evening. While there are legitimate reasons for challengers to take on incumbents this year (being out of touch with constituents, refusing to debate opponents, previous votes not meeting the urgency of the moment), the combined DSA/Track AIPAC slate of candidates is once again overwhelmingly mediocre first-time individuals hoping that they can win over constituents by subtly blaming Jews for all of today's problems. That strategy may have worked in New York City, but statewide Massachusetts is a different animal. Based on what we're seeing on the ground here, DSA and Track AIPAC seem poised to lose their priority races simply because Massachusetts voters aren't willing to change a horse midstream. In a state with an all-blue congressional delegation and a supermajority in both the state House and Senate, voters as a whole seem unlikely to change course, especially knowing how critical Democratic control of government will be with Trump remaining in the White House. While DSA and Track AIPAC have been able to weaponize the issue of Israel in other, more prominent races, Massachusetts voters couldn't care less about Gaza and instead are focusing on the issues here at home.
It's been refreshing to see their waning influence here in my home state. DSA is a parasite, and the fewer of them we can have in local and state government, the better. We already have Ayanna Pressley in Congress, and while she's been one of the more "tame" members of the Squad, she still can go wildly off-key and sabotage a vote, as we saw her do multiple times during the Biden Administration. Massachusetts needs reliable blue voters in Congress and seems poised to do so based on the anticipated results of this evening. When all is said and done, it may very well be possible that DSA ends the night having re-elected its small number of incumbents and not having flipped a single seat where they brought forth a first-time challenger. That result would be ideal for all of us, as it would be the clearest signal yet that Massachusetts doesn't want these upper-middle-class White yuppies mucking up the Democrats' supermajority in state government. It would force DSA back to the drawing board and would likely cause them to reevaluate their strategy of trying to infiltrate the Massachusetts Democratic Party as a means to try to build their own brand within the party that they are sworn to hate. That lost time and resources would benefit the "Establishment" and would allow us to be even better prepared to take them on in 2028.
A battle we all know is coming.