And interesting story more about the DSA than the Democratic Party

And about the apparently increasingly popular fantasy of democratic socialism, by which the Gene Debs/Michael Harrington tradition means public ownership of most, or at least "the towering heights", of the means of production, brought about and surviving under a normal democracy committed to civil liberties and human rights.

Though support for so tame a Utopia is by no means universal among DSA members, and never was, part of the membership being considerably further left than the name of the organization would reveal.

‘Yes, I’m Running as a Socialist.’ Why Candidates Are Embracing the Label in 2018

There was no question on primary night in Texas last month that Franklin Bynum would win the Democratic nomination to become a criminal court judge in Houston. 

The 34-year-old defense attorney had no challengers.

But for his supporters who packed into a Mexican restaurant that evening, there was still something impressive to celebrate. 

Many in the crowd were members of the Democratic Socialists of America, or D.S.A., a group that has experienced an enormous surge of interest since the election of President Trump, even in conservative states. 

And Mr. Bynum was one of their own — a socialist who, along with at least 16 others, appeared on the ballot in primary races across the state of Texas.

“Yes, I’m running as a socialist,” Mr. Bynum said. 

“I’m a far-left candidate. What I’m trying to do is be a Democrat who actually stands for something, and tells people, ‘Here’s how we are going to materially improve conditions in your life.’”

Rather than shy away from being called a socialist, a word conservatives have long wielded as a slur, candidates like Mr. Bynum are embracing the label. 

He is among dozens of D.S.A. members running in this fall’s midterms for offices across the country at nearly every level. 

In Hawaii, Kaniela Ing, a state representative, is running for Congress. 

Gayle McLaughlin, a former mayor of Richmond, Calif., is running to be the state’s lieutenant governor. 

In Tennessee, Dennis Prater, an adjunct professor at East Tennessee State University, is running to be a county commissioner.

Supporters, many of them millennials, say they are drawn by D.S.A.’s promise to combat income inequality, which they believe is tainting every facet of American life, from the criminal justice system to medical care to politics. 

They argue that capitalism has let them down, saddling them with student debt, high rent and uncertain job prospects. 

And they have been frustrated by the Democratic Party, which they say has lost touch with working people.

. . . .

Since November 2016, D.S.A.’s membership has increased from about 5,000 to 35,000 nationwide. 

The number of local groups has grown from 40 to 181, including 10 in Texas. 

Houston’s once-dormant chapter now has nearly 300 members.

. . . .

Studies suggest that young people with few memories of the Cold War embrace socialism far more than older people do. 

A 2016 survey of 18- to 29-year-olds by Harvard’s Institute of Politics found that 16 percent identified as socialists, while 33 percent supported socialism. 

Only 42 percent supported capitalism, while a majority — 51 percent — said they did not.

Those results surprised John Della Volpe, the institute’s director of polling, so much that he thought they might be a mistake. 

He conducted a new study, this time of the general population, and got the same result.

. . . .

“The only group that expressed net positive support for capitalism were people over 50 years old,” he said. 

“The largest generation of Americans in history — millennials — have lost confidence. They are interested in finding a better way.”

Many socialist candidates sound less like revolutionaries and more like traditional Democrats who seek a return to policies in the mold of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. 

They want single-payer health care, a higher minimum wage, and greater protections for unions. 

But others advocate more extreme changes, such as abolishing the prison system.

. . . .

D.S.A., despite its criticism of the Democratic Party, does not identify itself as a third party. 

Instead, many members work within the party’s progressive wing to support their goals.

“Diversity helps the party,” said Christine Pelosi, a California member of the Democratic National Committee who has focused on making the party more connected to grass-roots activists. 

“I welcome their constructive criticism.”

Many Democrats have begun to ask socialists for their support and adopt some of the D.S.A.’s platform on health care and pay.

In Pittsburgh, eight Democrats in this year’s midterm cycle sought the endorsement of the local D.S.A. chapter.

“People are more willing to come out and say ‘I’m a Democratic socialist running,’” said Jorge Roman-Romero, 24, who helps lead a new D.S.A. chapter in Tulsa, Okla., where six Democratic candidates — four of whom were willing to run as Democratic socialists — sought the group’s endorsement. “It’s not a liability to say that anymore.”

. . . .

Acceptance of socialism today still falls far short of its heyday in the 1910s and 1920s, when the Socialist Party of America had over 113,000 members and more than 1,000 elected officials, including two members of Congress, according to Jack Ross, author of “The Socialist Party of America: A Complete History.”

By the 1950s, socialism was widely seen as antithetical to the American way of life. 

In 1982, Michael Harrington, author of “The Other America,” a seminal book about poverty, helped found the Democratic Socialists of America, which aimed to realign the Democratic Party toward increased protections for unions and the poor. But the group never gained much traction, until now.