They’re Not With Us: Why the DSA Doesn’t Represent Democrats

Abolish USAID. Empty the prisons. Defund police to zero. That’s not a coalition. That’s a warning.

As a Democrat, I believe in the promise of a big tent. We are a coalition of progressives and moderates, of labor organizers and neighborhood block leaders, of people who want government to work better for ordinary Americans. That diversity has always been our strength. But there are limits. At some point, a political movement crosses from internal debate to outright opposition. That is where the Democratic Socialists of America stand today.

I did not come to this conclusion lightly. I’ve watched the DSA closely. I’ve listened to their arguments, read their platform, and compared it with the values of the Democratic Party. What I found was not just a list of disagreements, but a set of principles and demands so far removed from the political reality most Democrats live in, it became impossible to imagine them ever sharing the same party.

Start with something like USAID. Most Democrats understand that while American foreign policy has made mistakes, we have also done real good. USAID is not perfect, but it has helped vaccinate children, deliver clean water, support women’s health, and stabilize countries after disaster. The DSA does not want to reform it. They want to abolish it entirely. Their platform states clearly that they support efforts to "abolish USAID, NED, Voice of America, and other governmental agencies that cynically disguise capitalist control as aid and journalism." That worldview is not just hostile to American power, but to the idea that our country can play any positive role in the world. I don’t believe that, and neither do most Democrats.

And then there’s public safety. The DSA doesn’t want to fix the system. They want to tear it out at the roots. Their platform calls for defunding the police to zero, ending incarceration, and releasing people from what they call "involuntary confinement." They state that they are committed to "rejecting any expansion to police budgets... while cutting budgets annually towards zero." They are not talking about bail reform or alternatives to prison for nonviolent offenses. They are talking about a complete abolition of policing and imprisonment as we know it. Their platform describes prisons and policing as "active instruments of class war" and demands that we "free all people from involuntary confinement and immediately cease construction of jails or prisons." That includes people serving time for violent crimes. That includes sexual predators, murderers, repeat offenders. I don’t say that to scare anyone. I say it because it’s what they’re actually proposing.

I grew up in a working-class neighborhood, where families needed both justice and safety. Where police abuse was real, but so was the threat of violence. Where trust in institutions was fragile, but the need for them was undeniable. I’ve lived in communities where the siren was the only thing that kept the block from unraveling. That reality doesn’t disappear because someone decides safety is an outdated concept. Democrats want change, but we don’t abandon common sense in the process.

When the DSA calls for abolishing prisons and defunding police departments entirely, they are not making an appeal to equity. They are making a case for chaos. They are asking communities, often the most vulnerable ones, to give up the few protections they still have in the name of ideological purity. And then they have the nerve to call that liberation. I don’t see it that way, and I know most voters don’t either.

What frustrates me most is not just their radical platform, but their refusal to show up when it counts. In 2020, when the Democratic Party was locked in a fight for the soul of the country, the DSA refused to endorse Joe Biden. In their official statement, they said, "We are not endorsing Joe Biden." They could not bring themselves to support the only viable alternative to Donald Trump. That moment revealed everything. They would rather posture than participate. They would rather lose righteously than win imperfectly. But this country does not have time for performance politics.

The Democratic Party has never claimed to be perfect. We are messy, we argue, and we compromise. But we show up. We build coalitions. We govern. It was Democrats who passed the Affordable Care Act. It was Democrats who delivered the largest climate investment in history. It was Democrats who protected marriage equality, stood with unions, and fought back against voter suppression. And none of that happened by demanding ideological purity. It happened by doing the work.

The DSA doesn’t want to do that work. They say it themselves. They attack Democrats more often than they do Republicans. They run spoiler candidates. They cheer on slogans that damage our chances in competitive races. They call our victories hollow and our compromises betrayals. They don’t see us as allies. They see us as obstacles.

So let’s stop pretending. Let’s stop calling this a family dispute. It’s not. This is a separate movement with its own goals, its own ideology, and its own contempt for the party it claims to influence. They don’t want to be part of the tent. They want to light the tent on fire.

That’s their choice. But they don’t get to speak for us. Not for the millions of Democrats who fight every day to make this country better. Not for the parents who want safer schools, the workers organizing for fair wages, the young people fighting climate change, or the seniors trying to afford insulin. They speak for themselves. Let them.

We are Democrats. We are imperfect and evolving and determined. We don’t run from the real world, we take responsibility for it. We make change because we are willing to work for it. And no matter how loud the DSA gets, that will never change.