Why Calling a Democrat a Socialist Isn’t the Insult It Once Was

The episode opens with two election-related developments. First, the Justice Department sued Alaska to block the state from finalizing its Senate results if Republican candidate Dan J. Sullivan Jr. loses. The department cited the possibility of voter confusion because two candidates on the ballot are named Sullivan: Dan J. Sullivan Jr. and Republican incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan. The lawsuit asks a judge to delay certification if votes for Dan J. Sullivan Jr. could affect the outcome of the incumbent’s close race against Democrat Mary Peltola. The Journal also reports that the Trump administration is removing 50% tariffs on some Canadian products. The move is intended to help Republican Senator Susan Collins hold her seat in Maine. Collins said she requested the tariff relief, while her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson, has made Trump’s trade war with Canada a central campaign issue. The two candidates are described as neck and neck in the polls, making the tariffs a potentially important issue in the race.

The main political segment examines Republican ads portraying Democratic candidates as socialists. In Michigan’s competitive congressional district around Lansing, Republican incumbent Tom Barrett is running ads against 36-year-old Democrat William Lawrence, a former member of the Democratic Socialists of America. One ad says Lawrence wants to redistribute voters’ property and money and calls that his “socialist vision for America.” WSJ national security reporter Vera Bergengruen says the label is not sticking as it once did. Lawrence has emphasized pocketbook issues, opposition to data centers, the war with Iran, and widening income inequality, and voters appear responsive to that agenda. Republicans have gone further in some cases by calling Democrats communists, but Bergengruen says those terms no longer produce the same reflexive fear, especially among younger voters. Government intervention to cap rents or curb drug prices is popular with many Democrats and also with some Republicans. The emotional meaning of “socialism” and “communism” has therefore changed, while Republican messaging has not fully adapted.

Bergengruen says the socialist and communist labels are appearing across the country, not only in Michigan. Republican messaging includes billboards saying “common sense over socialism,” advertisements using both words, and events at suburban golf clubs featuring Venezuelan and Cuban speakers discussing their experiences with socialism. The attacks resonate more strongly in Florida, where Cuban, Venezuelan, and other Hispanic immigrant communities are particularly sensitive to the subject. At the same time, some Republican candidates are reducing these attacks as the midterms approach because polling suggests they are not consistently effective. Republican strategists told the Journal that it can be counterproductive to brand candidates as socialists when many younger voters see the term as either positive or simply an alternative form of government. Bergengruen identifies several policies with support across party lines: capping prescription-drug prices, limiting rent increases, and taxing billionaires. Rising concern about affordability is making voters more receptive to these populist economic ideas. Republicans are generally not campaigning on them, but they are also less likely to attack them directly; President Trump himself has embraced a surprising degree of government intervention.

The program then turns to Democrats’ plans if they regain control of the House. Democrats have already said at rallies, in public statements, and on cable news that they want to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. General assignment reporter Maya Davis says Hegseth could be a more politically useful target than President Trump because he is the public face of an unpopular war, has low approval ratings, and allows Democrats to argue that they are holding the administration accountable without immediately entering the politically difficult question of a third Trump impeachment. Davis says Representative Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, intends to force a vote on Hegseth’s impeachment during the lame-duck session in January. She has contacted Republicans but found little appetite among those she spoke with for joining the effort. Democrats hope that a Republican defeat at the polls might make some Republicans more willing to cross the aisle, although that remains uncertain. If the House impeaches Hegseth, the case would move to the Senate, where conviction would require a two-thirds supermajority, making removal highly unlikely.

In markets, the Dow fell more than 1%, leading losses among the major indexes. Brent crude rose more than 3% to nearly $117 a barrel, its highest level since late April, as investors worried about an escalating conflict with Iran. Apple’s new foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo, also reached stores. Although reviews were mixed, demand was strong and availability was limited. Apple said stores would have only “limited numbers” for walk-in customers, while telecom data showed that online orders faced longer shipping delays than the three most recent iPhone models. Those details suggest Apple did not manufacture enough units for the launch, partly because the supply chain for the foldable device was not fully ready. The episode presents the shortage as a supply-and-demand story rather than evidence that consumers rejected the product.

Biotech reporter Xavier Martinez explains why Moderna shares fell after details of a clinical trial with Merck were released prematurely. The leaked data showed about a 40% reduction in the risk of melanoma spreading compared with standard immunotherapy. That is a meaningful result, but investors reacted negatively because expectations had become unusually high. In August, Moderna and Merck announced that the trial had met two goals: reducing the risk that melanoma would return and reducing the risk that it would metastasize to other organs. They did not release the data at the time, prompting months of speculation. Investors knew the companies were running almost a dozen other cancer trials and began imagining that the treatment could disrupt an oncology market worth more than $240 billion. Oncologists who were not involved in the study described the results as a significant step forward, but Martinez says they did not show that the vaccine would become a universal prescription for every melanoma patient, as some investors had effectively expected. The companies plan to seek approval before the end of the year and expect the individualized cancer vaccine to reach the market next year, though the leaked results could affect that timeline. Overall-survival data, measuring whether the treatment helps patients live longer, may not arrive for another year or more and will be crucial to judging its eventual use.

The final segment previews a World Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays, two of baseball’s lower-payroll teams. Milwaukee reached the Series for the first time in 44 years after sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers out of the playoffs, while Tampa Bay eliminated the New York Yankees. The Dodgers and Yankees together spent about half a billion dollars more on payroll than the teams that defeated them. Some critics worry that a Series without wealthy, famous franchises will draw less attention. WSJ sports columnist Jason Gay rejects that argument. He says the matchup challenges the idea that baseball has become a game divided permanently between teams with money and teams without it. Smaller-market clubs such as the Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates can look at the Brewers and Rays and see that they still have a path to the sport’s biggest prize. Gay also says the result is validating for teams dealing with budget limitations, even if it is frustrating that many of them still cannot get over the hump. Milwaukee has never won a World Series, and the Rays have never won one either, guaranteeing a first-time champion. Gay expects Milwaukee’s emotional response to be comparable to the excitement surrounding New York Knicks fans after the NBA season, calling Milwaukee a great baseball town and saying the city is ready to “pop” for its team.