Good morning and welcome back to today’s edition of the Wolf’s Den. It’s Wednesday, July 15th and here’s the biggest stories you need to know heading into the day.
Donald Trump and the Republican Party entered this election cycle believing Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff would be one of their easiest targets. Instead, Ossoff is turning the race into a nightmare for the GOP.
Ossoff reportedly raised more than $20 million during the second quarter, an extraordinary haul that demonstrates just how much energy is behind his reelection campaign. He is also leading his Republican opponent by 13 points in recent Fox News polling.
That momentum helps explain why Trump and his allies are once again attempting to discredit Ossoff’s original victory. Rather than offering Georgia voters a compelling alternative, they appear prepared to revive the same exhausted election conspiracies that have defined Trump’s movement for years.
Ossoff’s response should be simple: keep campaigning, keep organizing and keep delivering. Republicans once considered Georgia their best opportunity to flip a Democratic Senate seat. Ossoff is now making that path look increasingly difficult.
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Michigan’s Primary Is Exposing the Democratic Party’s Real Divide
Michigan Democrats will make an enormously consequential choice on August 4.
On one side is Congresswoman Haley Stevens, who represents a competitive district, has repeatedly won difficult elections and helped lead the Obama administration’s effort to rescue the auto industry. On the other is Abdul El-Sayed, the candidate of the party’s democratic-socialist wing, backed by figures including Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
El-Sayed’s supporters insist that their movement represents working-class voters who feel abandoned by the Democratic establishment. But the polling cited in this race tells a very different story.
Among voters with college degrees, El-Sayed leads by seven points. Among voters without college degrees, Stevens leads by a staggering 22 points.
Among white voters, El-Sayed leads by 12 points. Among Black voters, Stevens leads by an overwhelming 46 points.
Those numbers matter because they undermine one of the central arguments made by the DSA and its allies: that the socialist left is the authentic voice of working people and marginalized communities.
The evidence increasingly suggests something else. The DSA’s strongest base often consists of younger, white, college-educated and comparatively affluent voters. Meanwhile, the working-class, Black and more moderate voters the movement claims to speak for frequently support mainstream Democrats.
We have seen versions of this divide elsewhere. In New York City, socialist candidates have generated tremendous enthusiasm among affluent progressive voters while struggling to build the same connection with many Black, Latino and lower-income communities.
This is not an argument that Democrats should ignore economic inequality or stop fighting for working families. It is the opposite.
Democrats lost ground in 2024 with nearly every major voting bloc outside white college-educated voters. The party desperately needs to rebuild trust with working-class Americans of every race and background. But that cannot happen by allowing the loudest voices online to define “working class” as anyone who already agrees with them.
Winning those voters requires candidates who understand their communities, focus relentlessly on affordability and can compete outside the deepest-blue neighborhoods.
Haley Stevens has already demonstrated that ability. She has won and held a competitive seat, worked directly to protect Michigan’s auto industry and built support across the coalition Democrats need to win statewide.
The Michigan primary is therefore about more than two candidates. It is a test of whether Democrats will follow online rhetoric or actual voters.
The DSA can keep claiming that it owns the working class. The polling suggests the working class has other ideas.
-Ethan
