Will Wisconsin Turn Communist?

State Representative Francesca Hong, A card-carrying member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), has emerged as a serious contender for the Democratic nomination for governor of Wisconsin.

Oh, Wisconsin.

I have mixed emotions about Wisconsin. I spent the best four and a half years of my life there in the 1970s as a student at Marquette University in Milwaukeee. I liked it so much that I tried to stay after graduation.

Back then Wisconsin felt different from Illinois. It was cleaner, calmer, and in many ways more sensible. On the other hand, it was also the home of my hated Green Bay Packers and a state with a long history of progressive and socialist politics. Milwaukee famously elected several socialist mayors, something that would have been almost unthinkable in most American cities.

Still, Wisconsin was never a one-party left-wing state. In more recent years it elected Republican Governor Scott Walker, another Marquette graduate, and became one of the great battleground states in American politics.

Now it appears Wisconsin may be facing a new test. State Representative Francesca Hong, A card-carrying member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), has emerged as a serious contender for the Democratic nomination for governor. According to recent reporting and prediction markets, she has become one of the leading candidates in the race to replace outgoing Governor Tony Evers.

Hong is not simply another liberal Democrat. She is a self-described democratic socialist.

Now, whenever I call these people communists, somebody inevitably objects.

“They aren’t communists,” I’m told. “They’re democratic socialists.”

I understand the distinction they are trying to make. The problem is that when I look at the policies, the distinction becomes increasingly difficult to see.

Higher taxes.

Larger government.

Government control over more sectors of the economy.

Hostility toward private enterprise.

Redistribution of wealth.

Open-border policies.

Weakening law enforcement.

Identity politics.

Class warfare.

These are not isolated positions. They are pieces of a broader worldview that consistently moves power away from individuals, families, churches, communities, and businesses and toward the state.

Call it democratic socialism if you like.

I call it communism with better marketing.

Marx used the terms socialism and commiunism interchangeably.

Hong’s past statements on policing illustrate the point. She has supported efforts associated with defunding police and has made statements suggesting that traditional policing structures are fundamentally oppressive. In recent years she has attempted to moderate some of those positions, but they remain part of her public record.

Wisconsin voters will have to decide whether that is the direction they want for their state.

The bigger story, however, goes far beyond Wisconsin.

What we’re witnessing is not an isolated election. It is part of a national movement.

The Democratic Socialists of America have only about 100,000 members nationwide. That sounds insignificant until you realize how much influence they have acquired. Through organization, activism, social media, and primary elections, they have managed to pull a major American political party steadily to the left.

100,000 DSA cases are terrorizing over 45 million Democrats into acquiescing to loony communist policies.

Their victories in New York and Colorado have emboldened them.

Once elected, they shift the debate further left, making yesterday’s radicals seem mainstream and today’s moderates seem conservative.

We’ve seen this movie before.

A decade ago, many positions now considered routine within progressive politics would have been viewed as far-left even among Democrats.

Today, politicians who once presented themselves as moderates find themselves adjusting their rhetoric to accommodate the socialist wing of their party.

The Biden administration often appeared to move in exactly this direction. Whether due to conviction or political necessity, it repeatedly adopted policies favored by the party’s activist left.

Now there is increasing speculation that Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could someday seek the Democratic presidential nomination.

Many people laugh at that possibility.

I wouldn’t.

A few years ago people laughed at the idea that a democratic socialist could become mayor of New York City.

Then it happened.

People laughed at the notion that socialist-backed candidates could knock off entrenched Democratic incumbents.

Then it happened.

People laughed at the idea that a relatively small activist movement could intimidate millions of Democrats into silence.

Then it happened.

That doesn’t mean AOC will become president.

It does mean that dismissing the possibility would be a mistake.

The political gravity inside the Democratic Party is moving leftward, and many traditional Democrats appear either unwilling or unable to resist it.

The Wisconsin gubernatorial election is categorically different from the DSA‘s previous strategy of primary normie Democrats, largely by weaponizing anti-Zionism/anti-Senitism. This is a general election in a purple state. If the DSA succeeds here, it sets a very alarming precedent for the future of out country.

This is not New York City.

This is not San Francisco.

This is a genuine swing state.

If a self-described democratic socialist can win statewide in Wisconsin, the implications will extend far beyond Madison.

The question is whether voters are willing to hand the keys of a battleground state to a movement whose ideas consistently push America toward more government control, more redistribution, and less individual responsibility, one that favors criminals over public safety, one that seeks to abolish borders.

For those of us who still believe in free markets, limited government, strong law enforcement, and the sensible center, that’s a question worth paying close attention to.

Because what happens in Wisconsin could augur the fate of our nation.