Dead center: Wall Street's think tank picks a fight with the left (again) — Dingus of the Week Podcast #35

Democrats keep winning elections, and Third Way has had just about enough of it.After Abdul El-Sayed's upset win in Michigan's Senate primary — the latest in a string of victories by candidates running on the radical notion that people shouldn't have to choose between rent and insulin — the centrist think tank announced to the New York Times that it's launching a $15 million campaign to discredit democratic socialism before 2028. "We are preparing for the next war that is coming," said Third Way president Jonathan Cowan, describing the DSA as a "mortal danger" to the Democratic Party. The mortal danger, to be clear, is volunteers knocking doors for candidates who keep getting the most votes.A note on the messenger: Third Way is a 501(c)(4), which means it doesn't have to tell you who funds it. But its own leadership has admitted the majority of its money comes from its board of trustees — a group historically stacked with Wall Street and finance executives. So when the party's biggest problem is voters who think Democrats answer to donors instead of them, the fix, apparently, is a donor-funded war on the people channeling that anger. Some party you got here.This week on DINGUS OF THE WEEK, LYZ LENZ and ZACHARY OREN SMITH split the difference between the vital center and the actual dingus.DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning.SUPPORT THE SHOW by subscribing on Patreon.👑 $5/month - Not a Dingus tier (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive)👑👑 $10/month - Definitely Not a Dingus tier (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love)SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to [email protected]. FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEKYoutubeInstagramLYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media. ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith).LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song.SHOW RUNDOWN:00:07 - Cold open: ... A meditation on Forest Gump04:19 - Intro08:21 - Check-in: Lyz reports from Springfield, Ohio as Haitian TPS ends and Zach's sexy FEC paperwork15:16 - Dingus: Third Way's $15M war on the left47:36 - Midroll (not)47:48 - Game: Mystery Moderates51:20 - Voicemail dingus: Jake Lang 1:03:12 - Joy: Lyz binges Furious on Hulu and Zach watches a Cerro Gordo County thumb drive save democracy1:08:40 - Outro