[In&Out] The hard left wing in the U.S. grew out of ‘dissatisfaction with people’s livelihood’

The ‘Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)’ camp has emerged as an emerging force within the Democratic Party, which won a landslide victory in the US midterm elections in November 2026. Following Zoran Mamdani's election as mayor of New York last year, Janice Louise George was elected mayor of the capital, Washington, DC. Nitya Raman was elected after defeating the incumbent mayor in Los Angeles (LA), the largest city in the West. In the Federal House of Representatives, six new DSA camp candidates were elected, increasing the total to eight, including the existing two.

Does the law of action and reaction apply to history? The rise of DSA evokes a strange sense of déjà vu. In the Republican Party, the Tea Party movement, which advocated small government, tax cuts, and fiscal conservatism, emerged in 2009 in opposition to the Barack Obama administration's economic stimulus package and expansion of federal spending. The Tea Party contributed to the Republican Party's landslide victory in the 2010 midterm elections. In 2014, Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor bowed to Tea Party political newcomer Dave Bratt in the primary. In 2016, Donald Trump absorbed anti-establishment sentiment and became the Republican presidential candidate, and in 2024, the Make America Great Again (MAGA) faction became a mainstream force within the Republican Party and became the foundation for Trump's second term in office.

Changes in the Democratic Party did not happen overnight. Founded in 1982, DSA is a hard-left organization that pursues a fundamental transformation of capitalism and economic equality. The turning point in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary was when Senator Bernie Sanders created a sensation by promoting economic inequality and democratic socialism. In 2018, 28-year-old political newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) defeated Joe Crowley, a key figure in the Democratic House leadership, in the primary. It was an upset reminiscent of Republican Eric Cantor's defeat. Since then, DSA has expanded its influence by using the support of young people and progressive voters as a stepping stone and contesting intra-party primaries without founding a separate political party.

DSA's progress is being driven by an 'affordability crisis'. The reality is that it has become difficult to cover living expenses such as housing, food, medical expenses, and childcare expenses. In the 2024 presidential election, dissatisfaction with high inflation helped Trump win, but now that dissatisfaction is targeting the Trump administration. Mamdani proposed a rent freeze, free child care, and free buses, while Louis George proposed a reduction in child care and housing expenses. Rahman promised to reduce the number of homeless tent camp residents by half before the 2028 LA Olympics. The centrist Democratic Party also emphasized the cost of living issue, but DSA differentiated itself with more active and specific prescriptions. The suffering of the shopping cart, rather than ideology, became the political foundation of DSA.

However, this does not mean that DSA has emerged as a mainstream force in the Democratic Party. Their victories were concentrated in large cities where Democratic Party support was strong. The American media also evaluated that the main force that led to the victory in the contested area was the moderates. DSA's future task is to implement populist pledges into actual policies. The results of the U.S. midterm elections teach a lesson to the Korean political world. Voters' dissatisfaction with people's lives does not discriminate between left and right. This means that we need to focus more on people's livelihood issues such as house prices, rent, prices, and jobs. If you only focus on political issues aimed at hard-core supporters, it will be difficult to avoid ignoring moderates. The 2028 general elections are not as far away as you might think.