“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” —President Ronald Reagan

“We will prove that there is no problem too large for government to solve and no concern too small for it to care about.” —NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani

Could there be a greater contrast in visions?

Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City mayoral election on Tuesday was the biggest, but not the only, victory for the radical leftist political group known as the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). First established in 1982, DSA, as Olivia Reingold of The Free Press notes, “is a political body dedicated to the doctrine of democratic socialism, which is a variety of socialism that simply specifies how it would like revolution to occur: peacefully, through the subversion of democracy.”

They are only “Democrats” insofar as they see the Democrat Party as a means to an end. The DSA seeks to exploit America’s democratic electoral process to gain governmental power and establish a socialist system of government, eliminating capitalism.

Mamdani’s election signals the latest significant headway the DSA is making in taking over the Democrat Party. New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib were two of the first DSA members elected to Congress. And both are members of the Democrat Party.

As noted above, Mamdani wasn’t the only DSA member to see success on Tuesday, as at least 10 other members won local offices across the country — in Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Minnesota.

The lone major setback for DSA candidates was in Minnesota, where Omar Fateh was soundly defeated in his bid for Minneapolis mayor. That said, four other DSA members won seats on the city’s 13-member council.

The DSA is a Trojan horse for the Democrat Party, and with the DSA now well established inside the party’s proverbial gates, establishment Democrats will have a difficult time preventing the DSA from taking complete control of the party.

This is a seriously troubling development. For a long time, Democrat Party pooh-bahs have courted the radical Left, likely believing they could use them for political power while keeping their socialist extremism at bay. But how did it get this far?

A look at a recent Gallup survey is informative. Currently, just 54% of Americans have a positive view of capitalism, the lowest rating Gallup has recorded since it first began conducting the poll. Back in 2010, 60% of Americans held a positive view of capitalism.

A deeper dive into the data shows that while the vast majority of Republicans hold a positive view of capitalism today (74%), only a minority of Democrats do (42%). When it comes to socialism, everything flips, with just 14% of Republicans seeing socialism positively compared to 66% of Democrats.

One more important data point here is the nation’s overall negative view of big business, with just 37% of Americans holding a positive view.

That America’s economic system, which is responsible for creating the world’s wealthiest and leading economy, is viewed negatively by a not-insignificant number of its citizens would seem a mystery — and a legitimate problem. Furthermore, it helps to explain why an avowed socialist like Mamdani was able to win the mayoral election of the nation’s economic epicenter.

Americans, especially younger ones, have become increasingly frustrated and disillusioned with the American economy due in large measure to housing costs. Economic concerns, especially housing costs, were the leading issues Mamdani addressed throughout his campaign. This, above everything else, explains his victory.

The classic American dream of a house, a family, and a good job has become increasingly out of reach for more middle- and lower-middle-class young Americans. Of course, it’s thanks in many ways to Democrat polices that have made housing — and everything else — so expensive. President Joe Biden and the Democrat-controlled Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, which plunged the nation into a four-year-plus battle with wild inflation. But that fact alone won’t turn Americans toward voting for Republicans.

Now is the time for President Donald Trump and his administration to focus on delivering for Americans with the economy. And, even more importantly, really working to make housing affordable again.

If things don’t show serious economic improvement soon, Republicans in Congress may find themselves in the minority following the midterms next year. And Congress will likely be filled with even more DSA Democrats.