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Backlash from centrist Democrats as democratic socialist candidates sweep primaries

The Guardian (US) · back to the audit
After a string of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) primary victories, the loudest response from much of the Democratic establishment’s old guard was not reconciliation, but escalation. 'I actually do think it’s time for Democrats to talk the S-word: schism,' James Carville said on his podcast. He added that some DSA-aligned candidates 'have no place in the Democratic party' and, of the broader coalition: 'I’m not in that f***ing political party.' Rahm Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor and White House chief of staff, offered a structural diagnosis. 'What the socialist wing has decided to do is turn blue districts, dark blue,' he told CNN, arguing that Democrats had broadly 'lost the plot' by becoming mired in niche concerns rather than mainstream US priorities.