Staff Reports
The political world got a reminder this week that the Democratic Socialists of America are not hiding their playbook anymore. A short C‑SPAN clip of National Co‑Chair Ashik Siddique went viral after the RNC Research account posted it. In the clip he plainly said abolishing the U.S. Senate is “part of our platform,” and he added, “we don’t think that’s extreme.” If you like clarity, here it is — no polish, no wink.
What the clip actually showed
In under a minute Siddique laid out what DSA activists have been saying for years: the Senate is an old, anti‑majoritarian roadblock and should go. The clip was short and blunt. That made it perfect for social media and perfect for alarm bells. Yes, pieces of the DSA platform have argued this for a long time, but the difference now is a national co‑chair saying it on camera and conservative outlets running the tape. The DSA’s push to “democratize” institutions is no longer buried in long blog posts — it just hit the broadcast reel.
Why abolishing the Senate would matter
People should not shrug this off as harmless ideology. The Senate exists to protect small and rural states from being steamrolled by big population centers. Remove that check and you hand power to the biggest states and deepest pockets. In plain English: abolish the Senate and California, New York and a few big cities get to call most of the shots. That’s not theory — that’s a recipe for permanent coastal rule and the effective disenfranchisement of millions in smaller states.
Constitutional roadblocks don’t make the idea safe
Yes, Article V of the Constitution protects each state’s equal suffrage in the Senate. That clause means you can’t simply vote the Senate away in Washington. You would need a constitutional amendment with near‑unanimous buy‑in from the states — a political mountain that tells you this is not a one‑step plan. But describing the idea as “not extreme” when it requires rewriting the Constitution is either naive or intentionally provocative. Either way, voters deserve to know who is making the pitch.
What Republicans and voters should do next
This clip hands conservatives a simple message: the DSA wants to upend the rules of the game. Republicans should use it to explain the stakes to voters in plain terms. Democrats who want to win in competitive states should explain whether they stand with small‑state protections or with a partisan project to concentrate power. The real test of leadership is answering whether America’s safeguards are sacred or negotiable. If abolish the Senate is on your platform, tell voters exactly how you plan to pull off the constitutional magic trick — and be prepared for the answer to cost you votes.
