In the same way MAGA had a controlled demolition of the GOP into a populist, nationalist machine centered around a single man, the progressive movement has reshaped the Democratic Party into a Mad Hatter’s Convention of social transformation. The tools differed, the aesthetics diverged, but the core strategy remained the same: to tear down the old order and rebuild a new party, but this time with a bunch of lunatics.

The rise of the Progressive movement within the Democratic Party has been nothing short of a political insurgency. Much like MAGA’s controlled demolition of the GOP establishment, progressives have waged a relentless campaign to unseat the moderate, centrist coalition that once defined Democratic politics. But unlike traditional factional disputes, this transformation did not seek accommodation or balance; it sought submission. The result has been a dramatic ideological realignment that has remade the Democratic Party’s priorities, language, and leadership from the inside out.

While centrists still held some leadership roles, the gravitational pull of the progressive movement had redefined the terms of debate. The language, policies, and assumptions of the party were now rooted in a form of activist-driven progressivism, skeptical of capitalism, distrustful of U.S. foreign policy, and openly critical of traditional liberal institutions. The crazies are winning. The Democrat Party is about to put a Muslim Democratic Socialist as mayor of America’s biggest city, New York.

The centrist scaffolding of the Democratic Party was torn down and rebuilt with movement-oriented priorities. Electoral pragmatism was replaced by moral absolutism; the “big tent” ethos was sacrificed for ideological alignment. Like MAGA, the progressives succeeded not by working through the system, but by overwhelming it with a new base, a new set of norms, and a demand for loyalty to the cause. Whether this new party can govern effectively or win broad national support remains to be seen. The New York Mayoral race of 2025 will be a test of that. But one thing is clear, neither party remains what it was a decade ago.

C. Rich

C. Rich is the voice behind America Speaks Ink, home to the America First Movement. As an author, freelance ghostwriter, poet, and blogger, C. Rich brings a “baked-in” perspective shaped by growing up on the streets and beaches of South Florida in the 1970s-1980s and brings a quintessential Generation-X point of view.

Rich’s writing journey began in 2008 with coverage of the Casey Anthony trial and has since evolved into a wide-ranging exploration of politics, culture, and the issues that define our times. Follow C. Rich’s writing odyssey here at America Speaks Ink and on Amazon with a multi-book series on Donald Trump called “Trump Era: The MAGA Files” and many other books and subjects C. Rich is known to cover.  CRich@AmericaSpeaksInk.com

“America Speaks Ink is a Google News approved source for Opinion”