In many respects, they share the same fabric but are cut from different corners of the cloth.

The extreme right of the MAGA movement and the extreme left of the Democratic Socialists of America have both built their followings rallying against the existing political establishment — “the people against the entrenched elite.” MAGA views government institutions as the enemy, while the DSA opposes the capitalistic, corporate empire they believe feeds off the sweat and blood of the working class.

MAGA was seeded inside the Republican Party and has metastasized to a point where it now controls its host, at least at the national level. The DSA nested inside the Democratic Party, and while it has yet to overthrow the national party structure it is making serious inroads across the country, including here in Oregon. In a country where the two-party system is the only viable path to electoral victory, DSA doesn’t want to overthrow the Democratic Party but to control it from within.

Nick Caleb has been one of the chief architects of the DSA’s rise in Oregon. An attorney working on environmental issues by day, his off-hours have been dedicated to raising the socialist banner in Oregon.

Caleb began his journey a decade ago when working on the state senate campaign for Chuck Riley in Washington County. He saw it as an opportunity to articulate traditional working-class values against the corporate political machine. That is where the disillusionment began.

“I was horrified by the machine in my own party,” Caleb said. “Here we were soliciting money from wealthy donors at fancy wineries.”

He realized he wasn’t helping run a campaign; it was designed to run him.

“It was being driven by ‘the consultant class,’” Caleb said, wanting no part of it. “I realized the solution was to dismantle the downstream architecture that holds it up.”

Feeling Democrats “had given up the lane” once led by leaders like FDR, he sought a new direction.

“I think the Occupy movement started growing the modern movement,” Caleb said. Bernie Sanders then gave it a face and it has been on an upward trend ever since.

“I think more and more, people are frustrated with the Democratic Party for not fighting back enough,” Caleb said.

Break it down, break it down, I’ve got somethin’ to say

When you’re dancin’ with me, it’s like we go MIA

Make a scene, make a scene, nobody can ignore

Don’t knock it ’til you rock it, we can’t take it no more

“Shake It Up” – Selena Gomez

Caleb ticked off some of those grievances. “We need to fight against normalizing corruption, stop the revolving door in Congress, ban insider trading and stop billionaires from being integrated into national defense.”

Socialists have chalked up some impressive victories in the East, upper Midwest and in Florida where DSA member Angie Nixon won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in a stunning upset of establishment-backed Alex Vindman.

DSA members, or DSA-aligned candidates, have won the mayor’s seat in Seattle, taken control of half the Portland City Council, and upset moderate Democrat State Sen. Janeen Sollman in Washington County. DSA members are also expected to add a few more seats in the Oregon Legislature this fall, fueling speculation not on whether the Democrats will continue to control the Legislature, but who will control the Democratic leadership.

U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley have both endorsed DSA member Lesly Muñoz’s re-election to the Oregon House. Merkley also recently endorsed her sister and fellow socialist Myrna Muñoz for the Oregon Senate, and DSA member Tammy Carpenter for the Oregon House. Rep. Mark Gamba of Milwaukie has joined the DSA ranks and the Portland DSA chapter. The chapter also endorsed Rep. Farrah Chiachi (D-Beaverton).

Some prominent Democrats are rebelling against the socialists’ invasion into their party. Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville had this to say recently about the DSA rise:

“I wish they would take the word Democrat out of their name. I have no idea why the democratic socialists — if you hate the Democratic Party so much, well, then don’t use our god—- name.”

Caleb shrugged off the comment with a retort of his own.

“If the voters are choosing DSA members that’s a good sign we should keep running candidates in the Democratic Party,” he argued. “Ultimately the Democratic Party’s voters should be determining the direction of the Party, not the talking heads.”

U.S. Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries is also pushing back.

“I do not support the DSA agenda as articulated by the DSA itself,” Jeffries said in a recent appearance on “Meet the Press.”

That agenda, and also the one being executed by the current White House, seeks to overturn long-standing political norms. While some see Trump and his followers as trampling on the U.S. Constitution, others see the DSA as seeking to shred it altogether. Among its long-term goals is to abolish the U.S. Senate and the Supreme Court, eliminate prisons and the police, place large businesses under public ownership and end the national election of the president. The national leader would, instead, be selected by the members of a unicameral House of Representatives.

The Portland DSA Chapter will not endorse any candidates who are supported by police associations or unions, business groups or private education nonprofits.

Caleb is aware that such stances will make some of the DSA candidates uneasy when questioned under fire.

“We tell candidates to focus on the issue of affordability,” he said. “That is what (Mayor Zohran) Mamdani did in New York, and it resonated.”

Caleb believes one of the reasons the DSA has enjoyed so much electoral success in Oregon is the energy put forth by its followers.

“Nobody knocks doors like we do,” he said.” That was evident in the Sollman upset in Washington County. Using traditional Democratic infrastructure like the SEIU union and the Working Families Party, followers knocked on more than 36,000 doors in Sollman’s district, proving decisive in the outcome.

Both major political parties are faced with growing dissatisfaction within their ranks. Polls show almost one third of Democrats now consider themselves democratic socialists while a whopping 62% of Republicans identify as MAGA.

The future trajectory of the DSA and MAGA remains uncertain. Will MAGA shrivel upon the departure of Trump? Can the DSA expand the breadth of support needed for long-term viability? According to TIME Magazine, the overwhelming majority of DSA members are “young, white, urban, and college educated. Hardly a representative sample of the working class the organization hopes to organize,” according to the article’s author.

At the state level, both incumbent Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek and Republican challenger Sen. Christine Drazan have taken great pains not to align themselves with their party’s insurgents. The question between now and Election Day is whether the insurgents will let them.