Happy Friday.
This week, we shot a video about the “Real Reason” socialist candidates keep gaining ground.
I’ve been stewing about this for the last week. And, frankly, the great $20 burrito debate helped me crystallize my thoughts on the “socialist.”
If you aren’t familiar, you should read friend of the show Will Upton’s “Definitive Guide To Burrito Inflation.”
The debate largely started when GOP commentators dogpiled on a pretty simple question: Why have food and groceries gotten so expensive?
Following Mamdani’s campaign win, affordability has become an even bigger sore spot for Republicans, who have struggled to offer a clear response—or pass legislation—on an issue voters clearly care about. Instead, they’ve often either avoided the issue altogether or insisted that things are basically fine.
And when the response to people raising a legitimate concern becomes “You’re not allowed to question that,” you’re leaving an opening for someone else to come along and say, “Actually, I have a plan.”
Which brings me back to my point about these candidates.
Establishment Democrats and Republicans—aka Burritocons—can throw out as much opposition research and media criticism as they want: “He’s a radical.” “He’s a socialist.” They can repeat those lines about people like Abdul El-Sayed all day long.
And yes, those labels may be true. But they’re SLOP.
They don’t answer the more important question: Why are people listening to him in the first place?
Funny enough, one of the comments on my Instagram reel made my point for me:
“There is nothing interesting about them. They say nothing, that is original. They just regurgitate BS that’s been being said over and over again by small minded loony people.”
To an extent, the commenter is right. There is plenty of “regurgitation,” and these candidates aren’t necessarily saying anything particularly new.
But the timing is what matters.
Compare this to 2023 or 2024, when Democrats were in power. Once Republicans take power, the dynamic changes. There is accountability that comes with being in charge. It’s a cycle—and part of why we’ve seen Democrats and Republicans go back and forth in power.
So yes, maybe El-Sayed and Mamdani are repeating ideas that have been around for years.
But when the people in power aren’t addressing the problems voters actually feel, repeating those ideas at the right moment can suddenly become politically powerful.
And that’s where this commenter—and frankly, the GOP—are making the same mistake.
When affordability is one of El-Sayed’s or Zohran Mamdani’s central campaign issues—and Americans ALSO feel that this is a real problem—you can’t simply ignore it.
Yes, it’s difficult to acknowledge when you’re the ones in power.
But whether these DSA or DSA-aligned candidates actually have a good plan—or whether their pitch is even a real solution—is exactly what Republicans should be challenging.
Instead, the mistake is assuming young people are voting for them because they’re communist or socialist.
The reality may be much simpler: you’re failing to address the problems young people care about.