The vice president invites Republicans to respond to the economic difficulties of young people and opens the debate on the post-liberal future of US conservatism
Even Republicans are starting to question American neosocialism. “Our response to socialism cannot be to simply ignore the economic concerns that, in my view, fuel this growing interest in socialism,” he told Fox News on Thursday. JD Vance. “As American citizens, you deserve to have a dignified life in this country, and you deserve a government that makes it easier for you to start a family, afford a good education, get a good job, and buy a home,” he added, before concluding: “My warning to my Republican colleagues is this: If we can’t get things right, don’t blame young people who sympathize with socialism. We have ourselves to blame. “You don’t stop socialism by throwing slogans about the free market.”
The significant statements by the American vice president came after, in recent months, some far-left candidates, including those belonging to the Democratic Socialists of Americathey won part of the Dem parliamentary primaries. Not only that. A recent survey by the independent pollster, Jeremy Zogbyfound that, if the presidential elections were held today, 55% of respondents would vote for a socialist candidate and only 33% for a Maga representative. Furthermore, according to a CNBC poll, 46% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 have a positive view of democratic socialism. In short, the times of 1906 are long gone, when the German sociologist Werner Sombart he wondered why socialism had not taken hold in the United States.
If traditionally in the USA the term “socialist” had a meaning that was generally similar to that of “extremist”, the situation changed after the Great Recession. Since then, a growing number of millennials have begun to call themselves “socialists.” It is no coincidence that in his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, Bernie Sanders he proudly labeled himself this way, precisely to differentiate himself from the Democratic Party establishment. The same Donald Trump he brought into the GOP some recipes that were indigestible to the Republican wing closest to the ideas of the free market: just think of the duties which, especially during his first mandate, were opposed by a part of the Republican Party and its historic financiers (starting from the brothers Koch).
Now, after the recent victories in the Dem primaries of some candidates more or less close to Zohran Mamdanithe debate has reignited. The question first arose within Asinello himself, given that his centrist wing fears that the socialist rise could alienate the Democratic Party from the sympathy of the moderate vote in view of the Midterms. However, as demonstrated by the words of VanceRepublicans are also wondering about the issue, especially in reference to young voters. In 2024, Trump moreover, he had managed to gain a significant share of the youth vote.
It is therefore from this perspective that the words of Vancewho is notoriously thinking of taking the field for the nominations Republican presidential election in 2028. And the issue it raises has its own urgency. It is certainly true that many of these new socialists are radical and, at times, dangerous figures (just think of their convergence with figures and groups of Islamist orientation). And it is equally true that, at least so far, their candidates have won above all the vote of wealthy whites and certainly not that of blue-collar workers. However –note Vance– the fact that many young people today feel “socialist” cannot be addressed with simplistic demonization or a shrug of the shoulders.
And so, with his words on Thursday, the vice president seems to outline a recipe that is not only inspired by the Social Doctrine of the Church but also looks at a post-liberal and communitarian approach, not so dissimilar from that theorized in “Regime Change” by Patrick Deneen (who is, coincidentally, an intellectual historically close to Vance). Furthermore, it is not unlikely that the vice president is secretly playing with Tucker Carlson: despite having recently broken up with Trumpthe journalist is a historic friend of Vance and, in his program, he has been criticizing the traditional capitalist model for some time. In short, while warming up the engines for 2028, the vice president is trying to develop a program that, at least on some decisive points, moves away from classical liberalism. Which potentially positions him at odds with Marco Rubiowhich is more favorable to a liberalist perspective.
The debate promises to be intense in the conservative area: if the Washington Times published a critical commentary of the words spoken Thursday by Vance, NationalReview instead he showed himself to be more open-minded. The objective, for the Republicans, however, remains that of developing recipes capable of defusing the support that is going to neosocialism. Of course: the communitarian post-liberalism of Vance (And Deneen) has its risks and unknowns. But the vice president is certainly right on one point: it is not by mechanically proposing slogans from the 80s that the Republican Party will be able to win in the future. The same political phenomenon as Trump after all, it is there to prove it.
