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The DSA Ick Factor Is Still Settling In: Jim Pfaff on The Voice of Reason | Oct 8, 2026

Published: October 8, 2026
Network: The Voice of Reason Radio
Analysis: Conservative Caucus President Jim Pfaff

On The Voice of Reason, Jim Pfaff told host Andy Hooser that Republican momentum is building, but only a bit, and that the momentum Democrats had been building has been waning.

Hooser had opened by asking whether the past week brought a vibe change: sharper Republican messaging, and Democrats spending more time defending their own policies. Pfaff’s longer answer was the rift inside the Democratic Party, and the DSA ick factor he said is still settling in as late voters start to pay attention.

Topics Covered

• A Shift, and Voters Who Decide Late
• A Blue Spritz, and a Rift on the Trail
• The Senate Call, and the Ick Factor
• Hispanic Voters and a Party With No Platform
• The Suit to Stop Deregulation
• Is the DSA the Party’s Future?

A Shift, and Voters Who Decide Late

Pfaff agreed with the shift Hooser described. He did not call it major. People, he said, do not settle how they will vote until the election is close, and they are only now coming out of ordinary life to look at the race.

The other reason he named was Abdul al-Sayed. Pfaff called him articulate, then said the national interviews are starting to sound off. “He’s an articulate guy, but substantively it’s starting to seem a little strange what’s going on there.” That, Pfaff said, is affecting everybody in the race.

A Blue Spritz, and a Rift on the Trail

Pfaff would not predict the outcome. He did say he thinks Republicans are going to do it, and he put a ceiling on the other side.

At best, it’s going to be a blue spritz as opposed to a blue wave, I guess, is really what I’m starting to see right now.

Hooser raised a claim from someone on al-Sayed’s campaign that al-Sayed is not a genuine member of the Democratic Socialists of America and is using the group as a prop. Pfaff’s answer was “Well, maybe.” His other problem, Pfaff said, is that Black voters in the state are not all that excited about him. That showed up in the primaries, he said, and it is holding in various polls.

On the DSA itself, Pfaff said the Democratic Party embraces most of the policies the DSA puts out, and that there is still a real rift, one that is starting to show on the campaign trail. Hooser pointed to a video of Zoran Mamdani being booed by his own people as a traitor for not going pure enough, and to the way socialist movements punish anyone who will not follow the flavor of the day.

The Senate Call, and the Ick Factor

Pfaff granted that party rifts are ordinary. Republicans have them between the House Freedom Caucus and establishment Republicans. This movement, he said, shows up more strongly and more broadly. He described a backer telling every candidate he supports to toe the line or face a challenge, and he called that energy a poor way to enter a campaign. Later in the hour he named Hassan Piker in that contrast.

He then drew the limit of his own forecast. “I want to reiterate, I’m not saying that this means Republicans are going to keep the House.”

“I think they are going to keep the Senate.” Early voting has already started, he said, and that can work for Democrats as these fights spill out. A mass of voters over the next 3+ weeks will still ask whether they want this mess or something else. “And I think that DSA ick factor, as I’ve told you about before, is still settling in there.”

Hispanic Voters and a Party With No Platform

Hooser turned to immigration and said Democrats are now running on amnesty. Pfaff said they have long made that case underground, and that an old Chuck Schumer quote now playing says it. They are saying it in the open, he argued, because of what the polls show.

“Hispanic voters are actually about 60-40 or more inclined to vote Republican.” If they show up, he said, they are going to be there. Democrats, he said, still hold the false idea that Hispanic Americans will automatically side with them, whether first, second, or third generation, and still cannot get past the notion that a Black voter or a Hispanic voter thinks a set way. That did not play in 2024, and he thinks Democrats are having trouble with it now.

They are trying to reach Hispanic voters they think are about to break Republican, he said. What is worse is the offer itself.

Democrats have no platform. They are not putting a message of what they want.

They call Donald Trump mean and cruel and say Republicans must be destroyed, Pfaff said. Republicans, and Trump, are saying what voters get if Republicans keep the House. Democrats are not answering that with ideas of their own. He said that hurts Democrats more than current polls show, though he does not know how far it goes.

The Suit to Stop Deregulation

Hooser raised a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency and the Trump administration over deregulation, including what he called cap and trade and other environmental rules. Pfaff said Democrats falsely believe the public is with them.

A voter who knows one named rule might side with whoever is promoting it, he said. On regulation in general, “the American people know that they don’t want government telling them what to do.”

Arguing for cap and trade and climate alarmism is one thing, he said. “But to say that you can’t remove a regulation, that’s just not— first of all, if people understand it at all, it’s not something that really excites them.” Paired with open immigration, “they ain’t going to do well.” Voters from here on, he said, will think of those two pushes if they think of anything, and neither inspires anybody.

Is the DSA the Party’s Future?

After the break, Hooser asked whether Chuck Schumer is right that the caucus is fine and the DSA is working, and whether the DSA is the future of the Democratic Party.

Pfaff said it is the future only in the sense that it is the direction Democrats are going and have been going. “It’s a more strident presentation of what Democrats already stand for.” He does not think it will play with the American people.

Democrats are banking on young people, who poll well for socialism and maybe communism. Those numbers are alarming, he said, but the 25 and younger and 35 and younger crowd is a poor group to rely on for motivation. A much larger share of the population will not just run with DSA stuff. “The people who promote it are really kind of icky.”

Even AOC, he said, is not a lovable character. She has been good at promoting herself, but she fumbled international issues speaking to groups overseas, and a broader public will not find her inspiring. If Democrats put these ideas up front, he said, more capable Republican leaders will look better beside them: JD Vance, Ron DeSantis, Marco Rubio, the older Scott Bassett, people in the Trump cabinet, and Republicans who are not what he called rancid congressmen.

He pointed to Marco Rubio’s speech in Athens the day before, which he said had gone viral. He is not telling listeners they have to go with Rubio. He will take that kind of presentation against Hassan Piker, Abdul al-Sayed, and AOC. “I’ll take that comparison all day long if I need to work to win political efforts, whether legislative or at the ballot box.”

Hooser closed optimistic about Republican messengers who can hold a conversation, and credited a generation of talk radio and podcasts. He sent listeners to the Conservative Caucus site and asked Pfaff back before Election Day.

Key Takeaways

• A small shift: Pfaff said Republican momentum is real but not major, and that Democratic momentum has been waning.
• A blue spritz: He expects Republicans to do it, and at best a blue spritz rather than a blue wave.
• The ick factor: He is not claiming the House. He does think Republicans keep the Senate, and he said the DSA ick factor is still settling in.
• No platform: Hispanic voters are about 60-40 or more inclined to vote Republican if they show up, he said, and Democrats have no message of what they want.
• Deregulation: Suing to stop a rule from being removed does not excite people, and paired with open immigration he said Democrats will not do well.
• The messenger contrast: The DSA is a more strident version of where Democrats already are, and he will take Vance, DeSantis, and Rubio against Piker, al-Sayed, and AOC.

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About The Conservative Caucus:
The Conservative Caucus is a grassroots public policy action organization, formed in 1974. Headed by President Jim Pfaff, the Caucus is committed to advancing free enterprise, limited government, and traditional values.

Originally broadcast Oct 8, 2026 on The Voice of Reason with Andy Hooser.