January 1, Democrat Party Loses Iron Grip as Radical Socialist Faction Seizes Control

Wyatt’s Take

• The Democrat establishment has lost its number one weapon—money control—and now can’t stop socialists from hijacking the party brand
• Thanks to Super PACs, radical DSA candidates like New York’s new mayor are winning with billionaire backing, no party approval needed
• The longest-running political party in America is being eaten alive from within, and there’s nothing moderates can do to stop it

American politics has always been about power and money. For today’s Democrat Party, that means watching helplessly as the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) takes over—and the old guard has lost every tool to fight back.

The United States has seen plenty of political parties rise and fall. The Federalists came first in 1789, followed by the Whigs in 1830, and more recently the Libertarians in 1971 and Greens in 2001.

The current Democrat Party, founded in 1828, holds the record as America’s longest-running major political party. But that legacy is now under siege from within.

Throughout history, third parties have served to challenge dominant powers or champion single issues. The Greenback Party fought for paper money in the 1870s—and won, even though the party itself disappeared. The Republican Party itself rose from the ashes of the failed Whig Party.

Today, the Democrat Party faces its own reckoning. The Democratic Socialists of America—essentially a rebranded version of the Socialist Party from 1901 or the American Communist Party from 1919—is mounting a full-scale takeover.

DSA candidates are running across the country and winning big. The biggest prize so far? New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory.

Establishment Democrats are sounding the alarm bells. Recently, Van Jones, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, warned publicly that the DSA was “hijacking” the party.

Some Democrats try to play it cool, claiming the party is a “big tent” that can accommodate everyone. After all, the DSA and mainstream Democrats align on major issues like the Green New Deal, massive tax hikes, government-run healthcare, and defunding the police.

But here’s the brutal truth: the Democrat Party has zero control over the DSA. More importantly, they can’t stop DSA members from running as “Democrats” and redefining what the party stands for.

Why? Because 20 years ago, the lifeblood of politics—money—escaped the iron grip of the major parties.

Before 2010, political parties dominated candidate selection through fundraising, endorsements, and strategic spending. Their chosen candidates almost always won Democrat primaries. The party bosses controlled the game.

That power is gone.

We now live in the Age of the Super PAC. In any given race, a well-funded Super PAC can overpower a major party completely.

The Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision changed everything. A PAC can now raise and spend unlimited money supporting a candidate—as long as it doesn’t officially coordinate with that candidate.

As a former chairman of the California Republican Party, I watched this transformation firsthand. Before Citizens United, the political parties were the Super PACs. Not anymore.

The evidence is everywhere.

Take Elizabeth Simons, daughter of late hedge fund billionaire Jim Simons. She shares a $32.5 billion fortune with her stepmother and two siblings. Simons cut a check for $250,000 to New Yorkers For Lower Costs, the main independent group backing Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign.

Overall, that Super PAC reported nearly $2 million in donations spent supporting Mamdani. He almost certainly couldn’t have won without it.

Just as important, Mamdani—a card-carrying DSA member—was free to enter the race as a Democrat. No law prevents it. Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders has run as a Democrat for years.

Consider the Democrat National Committee today. It’s not the center of Democrat fundraising anymore—the party is broke. But Democrats aren’t worried because they’ll rely on Super PACs to fight the midterms.

This dynamic barely existed before 2010. And it’s not ending anytime soon.

Welcome to the Age of the Super PAC. Right now, the DSA is exploiting it brilliantly, threatening to destroy the longest-running major political party in American history from the inside out.

Wyatt Matters

For working Americans watching from the heartland, this matters because the party controlling major cities and pushing national policy can’t even control its own brand anymore. When billionaires can bypass party gatekeepers and install radical socialists who promise to tear down the system, everyday folks lose the last shred of accountability in the process. The old party bosses were corrupt, sure—but at least you knew who was calling the shots. Now it’s a free-for-all funded by hedge fund fortunes, and the most extreme voices are winning.