1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

I am writing to challenge the recent resolution condemning “socialism.” The rhetoric in this measure flattens entire traditions of democratic and left-progressive politics into caricature. It is a symbolic gesture that functions less as policy and more as a warning to anyone who believes government can be accountable, ambitious, and willing to confront concentrated economic power. This kind of posture is already out of step with an electorate that is demanding something more serious. The stunning rise of Zohran Mamdani in New York—now the mayor-elect of the nation’s largest city—is not a fluke or a local oddity. It is a signal. Voters across the political spectrum are exhausted by symbolic politics and hollow gestures. They want material improvement: affordable housing, reliable healthcare, public safety grounded in community investment, and economic rules that favor working people rather than entrenched interests. These demands are not fringe. They are not abstract theory. They are shaping real electoral power. Mamdani’s victory is a straightforward demonstration that when a candidate speaks directly about structural inequality, challenges the influence of moneyed interests, and offers a plan for genuinely democratic governance, voters respond. If the Democratic Party refuses to absorb this lesson, it will continue to lose ground to candidates who will. That is why this resolution matters. It sends the message that Congress is more comfortable policing language than confronting the failures of our current economic order. It conflates democratic socialist and social democratic ideas—ideas that millions of Americans now support—with authoritarianism, rather than grappling with the fact that our existing systems are failing at basic tasks like affordability, healthcare access, and equitable economic participation. If elected Democrats continue to treat these conversations as taboo, they should expect to be challenged—seriously and effectively—by candidates who are willing to respond to the electorate’s concerns with clarity instead of caution. Primaries exist for a reason. They are a mechanism for renewal when incumbents fall out of step with the direction voters want to move. I urge you to reject symbolic condemnations and instead engage with the substantive debates reshaping politics nationwide. The future of the party belongs to those willing to address structural inequality head-on, not to those who retreat into rhetorical comfort.