With the 2026 midterms approaching, a former chair of the D.C. Democratic Party is pressing Democrats to set aside internal divisions and coalesce behind the winners of their primaries — regardless of whether those candidates identify as centrists, liberals, progressives, or democratic socialists. The goal, according to A. Scott Bolden, is to win control of at least one chamber of Congress and put a check on President Trump's agenda.
Bolden, a Democratic strategist and attorney, warns that an ongoing civil war within the party is undermining its chances in November. He argues that most voters care less about ideological labels than about finding candidates who will aggressively oppose Trump, address the rising cost of living, and keep the U.S. out of foreign conflicts.
The recent primary victories of several democratic socialists — including candidates who defeated incumbents like Reps. Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat in New York, and Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado — illustrate the left's growing influence. Janeese Lewis George won the Democratic mayoral primary in Washington, D.C., and democratic socialist mayors Zohran Mamdani in New York City and Katie Wilson in Seattle were elected in 2025.
Bolden acknowledges that democratic socialists have proven effective at political messaging, using compelling campaign promises and social media to connect with voters. But he cautions that governing requires a different skill set, quoting the late New York Governor Mario Cuomo: "You campaign in poetry, you govern in prose." In office, he argues, democratic socialists will need to work with mainstream Democrats to fund their ambitious proposals.
Trump has sought to paint democratic socialists as a communist takeover of the Democratic Party, calling them "the biggest threat to our nation" — a claim Bolden dismisses as absurd. While Bolden identifies as a capitalist and disagrees with many democratic socialist policies, he stresses that the real enemy is Trump and the Republicans who have enabled his tariffs, his war with Iran, and policies that have fueled inflation and attacked diversity programs.
Bolden also criticizes congressional Republicans for failing to stop Trump's efforts to rig elections, his mass deportations of essential workers, and his weaponization of the justice system. If Democrats win a majority, he says, they will block harmful legislation and hold hearings to investigate Trump's monetization of the presidency, including his reported $2.2 billion in earnings last year — a matter that has prompted Senate Democrats to demand a probe.
Bolden urges voters to support all Democratic candidates in the midterms, even those they consider too moderate or too far left. He notes that a Gallup poll found only 39% of Americans view socialism favorably — including 66% of Democrats — meaning that most democratic socialists will likely move toward the center once in office to pass legislation and represent their constituents.
"The consequences of continued Republican control of the House and Senate — where Republican lawmakers serve the interests of Trump rather than the American people — are too grave for Democrats of any faction to ignore," Bolden writes. He calls for an end to intraparty feuding and a focus on winning majorities to make America affordable again.
