‘A Bustle in Your Hedgerow’: Two Parties Confront Ideological Insurgencies, Part Two

The Democrat Party is co-opting its socialist insurgents to defeat Trump and the GOP—but inviting ideological extremists into the fold could threaten the party’s future. This is the final installment of a two-part series. The first installment can be found here. Like Germany’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), America’s center-left Democrat Party faces a challenge from its extreme flank. Unlike the CDU, which has abandoned its past strategy and adopted one of confrontation, the Democrat Party is sticking with its strategy of co-option—not fusion—with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). But will the Democrat Party’s strategy prove any more successful...