Polling over the past few years consistently shows that concerns about the future of our country's self-governance weigh heavily on voters' minds. In a recent NBC News survey, respondents said "threats to democracy" is the most serious issue facing our country, tied with inflation and the economy.

In another poll late last year, nearly six in 10 voters said our country's best days are "behind us." More than 80% of Americans say our country has strayed from the ideals it was founded on, another study last month found.

Democrats and a compliant media have sought to pin this malaise on conservatives. It was the cornerstone of former President Joe Biden's and former Vice President Kamala Harris' failed campaigns, and the left continues to do its best to stoke voters' fears. Accusing President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers of subverting democracy has become the crux of Democrats' messaging. Never mind that most of the administration's actions over the past two years have been to undo Biden's overreach.

If truth be told, the greatest threat to our democracy isn't Republicans' vision of a limited government. If anything, that should be the saving grace. The real threat is the left's radical socialist agenda, which seeks to upend the system of government constructed by our Founders, which for more than 250 years has made the U.S. a beacon of hope around the world.

Self-branded "democratic socialists" pitch their platform as some magical elixir to lift up an oppressed working class. It's snake oil. Socialism has never succeeded in providing a better quality of life. It's why people living under these despotic regimes flee their home countries in hopes of a free, more prosperous life in America.

I write about the threat of socialism in my new book, "Wake Up America!: The Rise of Socialism Is the Death of Freedom." I discuss how the left's socialist pipedream isn't about creating opportunities for the downtrodden. It's about undermining personal liberties and eroding the pillars of our democracy, with an end goal of amassing power for its leaders at the top. And it's happening in plain sight.

The Democratic Socialists of America — whose candidates notched several notable wins in recent midterm elections — released its new policy platform last month. It reads like a communist manifesto: Abolish the U.S. Senate, swap the president for a supreme leader, and replace the Supreme Court with a judiciary chosen by a kangaroo Congress.

The plan is so extreme that even the most fervent establishment progressives balked.

"I don't even know what they mean by that," Sen. Elizabeth Warren muddled. Sen. Bernie Sanders was more concise: "No."

It might be easy to pass off such an extreme proposal as the musings of a disenfranchised political offshoot seeking to make a splash. But this isn't a college essay of some aspiring dorm-room revolutionary. It's the vision board of the rapidly emerging new leadership of the Democratic Party, and it's spelled out in bold letters.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani may have been the first of the socialist movement to win office, but he has a daisy chain of likeminded diehards behind him. Already, DSA-endorsed candidates have racked up wins in seven midterm elections in districts once considered solidly moderate, including in Michigan and Colorado, my home state.

It's impossible to ignore: The far left is making inroads with voters, especially young people who don't remember, or don't care about, the brutalities of failed socialist countries — the USSR, Venezuela, Ethiopia, Cambodia.

A survey this month shows that Democrats overwhelmingly have a more favorable view of socialism than capitalism. Almost 60% of the party supports socialism, compared to 18% who view it negatively. By contrast, less than a third have a positive opinion of capitalism, while 50% view it negatively.

Americans are not naive. They understand there is a real threat to our democracy knocking at the door. But it's not Trump or congressional Republicans, no matter how hard the media tries to cast them as such. It's the creep of socialism, which is stealthily taking root in our backyard.

I agree with Vice President JD Vance, who said last week, "You stop socialism by making people's lives better." The promise of capitalism has long outshined the lie of socialism, and it can prevail again. But I also agree with the vice president: "If we (conservatives) don't get this right ... we've got ourselves to blame."

Ken Buck served in the United States House of Representatives from 2015-2024 representing Colorado's 4th congressional district. He now serves as a Fellow with the Independent Center. To find out more about Ken Buck and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Gayatri Malhotra at Unsplash