As a matter of course, over the past half century many conservatives have accused top Dems of being communists/socialists. While there are certainly more than a few elite Dems who tilt near the edge of the socialist loonyverse, most top Dems are more parasites than socialists.
They know where their bread is buttered, and they don't want their milk cows destroyed.
However, by tolerating the truly insane in their midst, they have unleashed a throng of Frankenstein monster-type socialists who threaten to upset the whole rotten leftist edifice.
However, in the recent primaries it seems most of the young socialist Mao wannabes were defeated.
Most Dem voters aren't really socialists although they pay lip service to a number of stupid, socialist plans/ideas.
If the Dems truly do not want to get whipped in the 2020 elections, they'll back candidates who are closer to center-left than tilt off the left side.
Their problem is that most of the leading candidates for the Oval Office are lunatic socialists...Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, etal. Let's see them try to avoid committing suicide at the 2020 Dem convention. If Ocasio-Cortez gets a huge ovation from the Dem conventioneers, it means the party is in deep doo doo. Most average Dems are not nearly as leftist as the conventioneers. I'll be watching.