Its the socialism, stupid: The DSA may cost Dems their blue wave

Every conceivable historical benchmark would lead you to believe that Democrats are predestined for a great triumph come November.The federal government is under unified Republican control, Americans remain deeply dissatisfied with the state of the economy and President Trump’s approval rating lies somewhere in the depths of the Mariana Trench.Add the ongoing hostilities with Iran and resumption of a foolhardy trade war with our neighbors to the north to the tally, and you have the makings of an electoral landslide.One that would make a living hell for Trump out of his final two years in the White House.But a new Echelon Insights poll raises the question: Just how inevitable is this menacing Blue Wave?According to the survey, Democrats’ once impressive enthusiasm gap is now nearly nonexistent.In August 2025, 64% of Democrats indicated that they were “extremely motivated” to cast a ballot the following fall.Just 48% of Republicans said the same.Fast forward to this month and that first number has ticked up to just 67%, while the second has shot up to 63%.The same survey found that the donkeys lead the elephants by five points on the generic ballot, which is just about in line with RealClearPolitics’ average.That’s a significant enough lead to matter — and likely to propel them back into the majority in the House of Representatives.But it’s hardly the material that wave elections are made of, especially considering Republicans’ victories in the redistricting wars.Moreover, the sample used by Echelon Insights may have been slightly biased toward Team Blue.After all, Trump won the popular vote in 2024, 49.8%-48.3%.Yet Harris voters (49%) outnumbered Trump supporters (48%) in the survey.The reason for the surprising softness of Democrats’ lead — and Republicans’ renewed zeal — ought to be glaringly obvious.It’s the socialism, stupid.Trump’s popularity is waning even among his base.

Which means that it’s negative partisanship that’s resp...