Conservative Group Rolls Out ‘Fight Socialism’ Campaign as DSA Candidates Surge
A major conservative group on Wednesday launched a campaign targeting socialism as proponents of the ideology have risen in influence ahead of the midterm elections.
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Americans for Prosperity (AFP) debuted FightSocialism.com, details of which were first shared with National Review. The project acknowledges the rising cost of living but entreats voters to support free market solutions, employing educational materials, paid advertising, and nationwide grassroots efforts.
“We think that there is no better time than right now to engage and make sure that we are drawing contrast between these socialist policies and free market policies, so voters can ultimately decide what’s best for them,” AFP vice president of external affairs Katelyn Bledsoe told NR in an interview.
The campaign comes as Republicans and conservative groups have tried to highlight the rise of candidates in the Democratic Party associated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) while the country nears the thick of campaign season.
The DSA has found renewed political prominence in Donald Trump’s second term. Zohran Mamdani won election as mayor of New York last year, and several socialist candidates this year have won Democratic primaries for the House of Representatives and Senate, at times supplanting incumbents.
“We have socialist candidates that are winning primaries that are not in New York City, that are not swing states. They’re winning primaries in ruby red states like Oklahoma and Florida,” Bledsoe said. “Clearly, their influence is growing.”
A major part of AFP’s initiative is its Fight Socialism Playbook, which contends with policies supported by DSA or its prominent members, such as rent control, government-run grocery stores, and universal government health care.
The organization is upfront about the fact that the price of housing, groceries, and other necessities has gone up in recent years, but it implores voters to choose market-oriented solutions rather than embracing big government.
Bledsoe praised Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act but said there was more work to do on the issue of affordability.
“We ultimately have to do more, and that’s when we have to talk about realistic solutions, things that address housing, things that address grocery prices, energy prices, health care, and what those look like are pro-competition, pro-innovation, pro-deregulation policies,” she said.
The materials in the playbook will support the army of grassroots volunteers doing the work of AFP and of AFP Action, its political advocacy arm.
“The Fight Socialism Playbook puts facts and policy ammunition directly into the hands of our grassroots leaders, empowering them to fight back,” AFP managing director Kent Strang said in a release first given to NR.
AFP’s campaign will also feature five virtual events with Daniel Di Martino, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute who fled socialism in Venezuela and advocates against bringing the ideology to the United States.
“Today like in decades past, the answers (sic) to our problems is not more government control but less of it,” Di Martino said in the release. “It is not enough to say we oppose socialism, we must counter with a bold free market agenda that tackles the issues people have. AFP is coming forward with exactly that.”
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