When I became active in the Democratic Party, a split was developing between the environmentalists and union workers, especially those in lumber and mining. Some were also upset with Democrats’ earlier failure to defeat the Right to Work Act, which seriously weakened their unions.
Farmers and ranchers also felt under attack as fellow Democrats spoke of the dangers of pesticides and the methane emitted by cows.
Leaders worked out compromises in the party platform, but some rank and file left the party. It wasn’t Democrats’ support of schools, civil rights, migrants or even abortion that ended their election to statewide leadership — it was global warming.
Issues are dividing Democrats today, not so much in Idaho, but across the country.
One is the central party’s continuing support of Israel as its current government persecutes and murders thousands in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria. Since the “ceasefire” in Gaza started Oct. 11, 2025, Israel has attacked four or more sites a day, killing over 1,250 — including 300 children — and wounding nearly 4,150. They continue to block food supplies, bulldoze homes, kill journalists and destroy hospitals and schools.
AIPAC, a Jewish lobbyist group, has spent over $100 million on U.S. primary elections so far this year — plus the millions invested in “pop-up” PACs. Thirty million dollars went to support the national Democratic organization’s favorite in a Michigan U.S. Senate primary.
But the main issue is the central party’s failure to oppose the mergers creating megacorporations which force out competition and drive up prices. Robert Reich, former secretary of the treasury, feels this strongly.
“The Democratic Party isn’t being taken over by Democratic Socialists. There’s no civil war between progressives and moderates. This isn’t about Israel or Netanyahu. We aren’t witnessing an ideological battle between the ‘left’ and the ‘center.’
“We’re seeing America wake up to the tyranny that’s engulfed us, and to a crisis of affordability that’s causing most Americans to struggle financially while fueling the biggest stock market rally in history.”
So President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance have switched from calling Democrats ‘socialists’ to calling them ‘communists’, apparently because many younger people don’t see ‘socialist’ as a terrible thing. Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland manage to combine democratic procedures and extensive public services with government management of key economic sectors.
These countries — along with the Netherlands and Iceland — are rated as the world’s happiest. Scores are derived from gross national product per capita and polls on social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption. (The U.S. scores 24th, behind both Mexico and Canada).
Communism, on the other hand, is associated with totalitarianism — government control not only of businesses, but also of media, education, and public speech — and violence. Between 700,000 and 1,200,000 civilians were killed during Stalin’s Great Purge of 1936-1938.
About 20 years ago a noted Socialist mocked Democrats by saying socialists were out to build a new, fairer economy while Democrats just work to “save capitalism from its excesses.” That’s it — Democrats like fairness mixed with their capitalism.
Adam Smith, who wrote the original philosophy supporting capitalism in 1776, denounced monopolies and warned against the coming of corporations.
Blogger Matt Stoller asked Abdul El-Sayed, the Democrat who won that Senate primary in Michigan why he isn’t a Democratic Socialist, El-Sayed explained that monopoly, not government regulation, is the main enemy of capitalism.
“I think small business is amazing. I think it’s a really efficient way to move capital into the areas where it can be really efficient to create a lot of jobs. I’m just not a socialist. And so I want capitalism to work the way it was supposed to work, not the way that the corporations tell us it’s supposed to work.”
He gets it.