The ‘Moderate’ Left’s Campaign to Distance Themselves From Their Socialist Wing Isn’t Going Well
“They should not be the face of our party. We need to be organized and clear in our vision.”
In an effort to combat the growing influence of Democratic Socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on the Democratic Party, a “Promise to America” campaign debuted, with two House Democrats who flipped Trump districts in 2024 calling on their colleagues to sign a pledge that they hoped would reassure voters in their districts that there were allegedly some sane voices left in the party:
The pledge is a direct rebuke to the party’s leftward tilt as democratic socialists such as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) capture the party’s energy and activism.
Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-New York) and Rep. Adam Gray (D-California) said they will unveil the pledge Wednesday afternoon at the center-left conference WelcomeFest, and hope to get candidates up and down the ballot to join them in signing it. As Democrats wrestle with their identity heading into the midterms and 2028 presidential race, the effort marks moderates’ latest bid to assert themselves.
.@Tom_Suozzi and I joined @TheWelcomeTeam at WelcomeFest to discuss a new path forward for the Democratic Party with the Promise to America.
Learn more about @thepromise2026 and sign the pledge at https://t.co/s7jHnANnHu pic.twitter.com/ABeLiCNQbR
— Adam C. Gray (@AdamGrayCA) June 6, 2026
Needless to say, the wave of primary wins on Tuesday night by Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) candidates in Washington, D.C., and states like New York and Pennsylvania has increased the sense of urgency among Suozzi, Gray, and other purportedly “moderate” House Democrats and congressional candidates who seek to distance themselves from the party’s growing socialist wing.
The declarations made in the pledge were:
“We are capitalist, not socialist.”
“We want safety, not lawlessness.”
“We are responsible, not reckless.”
“We believe government should solve problems, not create them.”
“We are mainstream, not extreme.”
“We are proud, not ashamed of America.”
But though there are 212 Democrats in the House, only 10 have signed the pledge. The five others who signed it are congressional candidates.
BREAKING: Promise to America secures signatures from ten members of congress and five congressional candidates. We'll break it down for you down below. https://t.co/BfmL6m6CPI pic.twitter.com/3pHFyJBjY0
— The Promise to America (@thepromise2026) June 25, 2026
“They should not be the face of our party,” Democratic Colorado congressional candidate Jessica Killin told The Washington Post. “We need to be organized and clear in our vision.”
The fact that only five percent of House Democrats have signed the pledge so far has not been lost on the party faithful, some of whom are resentful over the signatories supposedly wanting to pull the party “to the right”:
Two days after DSA candidates beat the better-funded, incumbent-backed field, a new DC group launched the “Promise to America” pledge: “capitalist, not socialist.”
15 people have signed it. 10 are currently in office — out of 213 House Democrats.
That is 5% of the caucus telling a party of millions of voters the answer is to move to the right, which we already learned in 2024 doesn’t work.
The voters just told them who’s winning. The pledge is a group deciding not to listen, answering the loss with a manifesto instead of a lesson.
Two days after DSA candidates beat the better-funded, incumbent-backed field, a new DC group launched the "Promise to America" pledge: "capitalist, not socialist."
15 people have signed it. 10 are currently in office — out of 213 House Democrats.
That is 5% of the caucus… pic.twitter.com/G51OIUsNah
— Matt Royer (@royermattw) June 26, 2026
The DSA has also weighed in and immediately made it about Israel because of course they did:
13 Democrats in Congress signed onto a pledge to “reject socialism” today. Combined, they’ve raked in a whopping $10,088,996 from the Israel lobby. Nothing moderate about that. Should we tally up their Big Tech donations next? https://t.co/4flgvavvg7
— DSA (@DemSocialists) June 26, 2026
In my opinion, this is going to be a hard sell because this is not a new thing. The party has been dragged further and further to the left over the last few decades. In other words, their march towards socialism is not a recent development. It’s just that there are candidates across the country who are no longer afraid to put the label on themselves and are quite upfront about their embrace of socialism.
Also, some of the Democrats who signed the Promise to America pledge are going to have a difficult time making the argument that they are middle-of-the-road types considering how closely their respective congressional voting records match up with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who, like Mamdani, is a card-carrying member of the DSA:
[Rep. Susie] Lee, who represents the competitive NV-03 district in Las Vegas, and Gray, a Central Valley Democrat who narrowly flipped a Republican-held seat, joined the tiny group in an apparent effort to distance themselves from the party’s radical, communist elements ahead of what is expected to be a tough midterm election.
But no meaningless press-release pledge can erase their records of alignment with the far left. Lee has voted in lockstep with socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 88% of the time. Adam Gray? 79% of the time.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) fired back sharply:
“Susie Lee and Adam Gray’s fake pledge is worth less than the paper it’s printed on. Their pathetic pledge won’t hide the truth: Lee and Gray are just rubber stamps for the Democrats’ socialist agenda,” said NRCC Spokesman Christian Martinez.
As for Suozzi? Well, let’s just say he probably hopes that nobody remembers how, in 2019, he lobbied to be an “honorary member” of AOC’s “Squad”:
You’re in, @RepTomSuozzi 💪💜 https://t.co/7SXAYxtJi0
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 16, 2019
Relatedly, there was this:
During the last Congress, Suozzi’s voting record aligned with Ocasio-Cortez’s on 92 percent of issues according to an analysis from ProPublica. That number edged up to 93 percent for Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, and 94 percent for Rep. Ayanna Pressley, the other three Squad members.
Past Squad-friendly votes from Suozzi have included standing against a bill to allow US authorities to deny entry to immigrants suspected of gang activity. He also voted against another bill upping penalties for those who reenter the United States if they have been convicted of certain crimes.
These people can try to run from their voting record and repackage themselves as modern versions of the Blue Dog Democrats, but as they say, the receipts don’t lie.
– Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via X. –
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Comments
The rise of DSA in deep blue CD isn’t unexpected. What will be interesting is if the DSA or DSA adjacent candidates can win in less partisan CD. It’s one thing to win in CD with 60/40 or greater advantage, its another to win in a CD with 55/45 or 52/48 advantage …which may become a serious problem for d/prog as their aggressive redistricting to manufacture as many d/prog CD as.possible has diluted their advantage in some their CD. There were about 20 ish ‘swing’ CD heading into midterm before the wave of redistricting.
One district to watch is VA-8. It is a 75D-25R district, and is the only contest on the VA primary ballot where an intra-party challenger to an incumbent made it onto the ballot. Of the 4 leftists challenging Rep. Don Beyer, one of them is explicitly anti-Israel. Primary day is Aug 4, and early voting is going on now. I live in this district and have yet to see any campaigning. Also, the Republicans are picking which third stringer gets to take on Sen Warner.
The more I read about the political landscape, the more I become convinced that an “Adam Selene” type solution may be necessary.
[See “The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress” by Robert Heinlein, chapter 14]
Nancy Pelosi was right
D your in
Yesterday I saw a DSA rep stating outright: we aren’t Democrats — we’re just using the D party to get ballot access.
Imagine that — the parasites get parasited.
Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite ’em,
And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum…
“They should not be the face of our party. We need to be organized and clear in our vision.”
Translation: “They’re stealin’ the grift right outta our mouths!”
That and the ‘moderates’ are finding themselves to be on the menu. Despite their cooperation the crocodiles ain’t gonna eat them last but instead will consume them whenever/wherever the crocodiles find an easy meal.
The so-called moderates will be purged. Communists love a good purging almost as much as they love lying and murdering people.
They were already purged. The trend accelerated over the past 25 years. If only 5% of the Democrat caucus opposes the socialists, the party has already been taken over.
“They should not be the face of our party. We need to be organized and clear in our vision.” Right. If you had been clear and organized, these newly branded ‘Democrats’ would not be your face and voice. The Democrat is a master at whoring the language. If you kulaks want to be the real thing-pro America- then quit the Democrat label and join either the Republicans or if you are really serious( you ain’t) join MAGA.
“Promise to America” seems to be saying, “We are Communists and hate Jews and RethugiKKKans like DSA, only we don’t people to know that we are Communists and hate Jews and RethugiKKKans like DSA.”
Don’t think that will work – which is why they will eventually walk back those efforts.
The Democrat Party has always been closet communists. They fought hard to keep the secret in the late 40’s and early 50’s. The investment by the Soviets outlived them.selvess. The purge.of the old useless guard has started. Having lived the lie for so long…the oldsters can’t understand they are goners.
Two comments:
1) “We are proud, not ashamed of America.” You REALLY think anyone buys that. The whole theme of the Democratic Party is hatred of the US.
2)”They should not be the face of our party”. Tough luck, they are. They get the clicks.
That pledge belongs to the Republican Party. No wonder almost no Dems will put their name to it.
Empathy for the criminal migrants is best served by dismantling the cabal that conspired to bring them here
Transport category aircraft were used to import thousands of criminal migrant invaders in a conspiracy which included bring sociopaths from the worst foreign prisons
The conspiracy was successful as the cabal was able to leverage gaps in the meaning of census rules to gain countless government seats federally and locally. This laid waste to large sections of America and persists thru today.
Empathy for the invaders (who KNEW they were engaging in criminal conduct) is best served by permanently abolishing the cabal which facilitaed it to prevent recurrence.
After all, when you develop gallstones, does the doctor operate and remove stones every so often? No.
When a wasp stings you, do you go to the hive and arrest the perpetrator?
No. YOU ANNIHILATE THE WHOLE CORRUPT THING
USE RICO TO PERMANENTLY ABOLISH THE LYING, SATANIC DEMOCRAT CRIME CABAL
Dr Frankenstein had to live with the consequences when he created his monster.
The Democrats now need to live with theirs.
Yes, and we know what the monster had in store for its creator.
Very apt.
The U.S. has imported too many people who do not share western values and morality. And our universities and public schools have preached the ills of capitalism for the last 20 years. We are in for a dog fight to push back socialism/communism over the next decade.
Agree. We’re in for a dog fight against communists AND their enablers in the GOPe.
Decades
Just like Fetterman, they talk the talk, push the slogans, but when the vote comes they toe the party line. I’m sure they still ask the party leadership for permission to vote “off the line”. When they change party affiliation (D to R) so that their claimed positions change the majority-minority balance in the House (or Senate), that will be a sign they are serious about the DSA.
Until then it is just grasping anything that floats as their boat rolls over and slips below the waves….
The identities of the white, college “educated” children that voted for this is the truest indictment I have seen lately against our alleged “education” system, and in particular, the Dept. of “Education.”
Scores have dropped, skulls full of mush are now skulls full of Marxist, actually communist, mush.
The Democrat Socialists OWN the “good” communists, the “good” antisemites, the “good” Hamasholes and the “good” Nazis in their party. Paid for and delivered.
Let them wear it proudly. Let America see them for what they are: a Fifth Column of America betrayers, intent on destroying leftist culture, to view the wreckage from their gated communities and dachas.
God!!! How many times must I say there are no democratic moderates. You are not capitalists. You;re are socialists. You believe governments solve problems for god sakes. They don’t. They shouldn’t.
Your pledge is mostly BS. You don’t believe any of that except perhaps you’re not ashamed of America and even that I’m not so sure of. Just give it a rest already.
On the other hand, it may be a the germination that helps wake people that are completely unaware, especially Democrats, of the hijack that is occurring.
It’s not much of a highjack really. The D and DSA pretty much have the same beliefs. The DSA are just more vocal and more honest about them.
Perhaps, but it seems like a qualitative difference even in that context. The issue is one that many day to day voters have no clue about. So it’s good to raise awareness.
The only sharp difference is policy toward Israel. Otherwise they are about the same.
The Democratic Party, just like the Republican Party, is a private club that sets its own rules, selects its own leaders, and can set the terms for membership and therefore expel those that do not need their standard. Republicans did that with George Santos in 2023, they expelled him from his party and they also expelled him from the House of Representatives.
In my humble opinion, this is a consequence of the Democrats, not dictating and voting on a platform for a long time. What they have displayed is lust for power, without any controls as to how to use it.
It’s a good thing that some Democrats are raising the issue because it reinforces what others have been warning about, is pro-American, and shows that antisemitism is a fundamental component of the fake “Democrats.”
There is no reason to believe that Dem “moderates” are actually moderate. The moderate Dems dislike America’s citizens, customs and history as much as DSA candidates. The chief difference appears to be that moderate Dems believe that the DSA folks are foolish to state their views openly.
DSA – We want to destroy America.
Democrat “moderates” – We want the DSA to destroy America.
There are no “moderate” Democrats. There are Organized Crime Democrats (OCD) and Communists (DSA).
Don’t fall for this! It’s the “Blue Dog Democrat” scam all over again. So-called conservative Dems ran in conservative districts and told voters what they wanted to hear. Their only vote that mattered was their first vote to make Pelosi Speaker. After that she put leftists in charge of every committee to control everything.
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Joe McCarthy was right, and he was vilified for it. Now we have to live with the fact his warnings were ignored.
Not going well?
Did LBJ, Ted Kennedy, Biden really expect the international cultists, racists, anti-market, parasites, leeches,…the generation of blacks racists and whites who hates themselves, sexual perverts to all unite together to perpetually vote of the likes of their white, Jewish,and sometimes paid black help forever? Or even a few decades?
The Democrats have long controlled elections by the MSM, Academia and fraud. The game is up.
The third world is now in charge along with the mentally ill scum that follows in their wake….yet believe they head the parade..
In NYC at least, DSA seems to have taken over the party’s GOTA machine and used it to zero in on voters likely to support them.
Whether that continues to work out for them, whether they can achieve the same takeover elsewhere, remains to be seen.
Eventually the D’s will support in lockstep the communist platform of the new faces in the party (who are not Democrats btw, just using the party as the mule for them to ride in on). All because they hate Trump.
Don’t they understand that they are supposed to be the policy wing while others keep pretending that they are not out to destroy the country.
They are not upset about those people’s policy positions, they’re only upset that they are saying the quiet part out loud. Trojan Horse tactics don’t work very well when you let them know you’re a communist before the election.
The Democrats were corrupted by Marxists a long time ago.
They have nurtured that viper in their midst.
In OUR midst.
And now it has begun to bite.
We have only one course of action open to us.
And it is not ‘talk’.
Simple, the Democrats should KICK THEM OUT and make them run as Socialists.