SAN DIEGO — There is a lot that Democrats don't know. They don't know who to be, or how to act. They don't know which policies to support or oppose. They don't how to woo voters and win elections. And they don't know what they want, or how to be grateful for what they have.

Other than that, Democrats are in great shape.

Their saving grace is that Republicans have their own set of problems. For instance, every GOP candidate running in the November midterm elections should have to go on record about whether they support President Donald Trump's five biggest failures: breaking his promises to curb inflation, imposing tariffs on countries that were friends and allies, authorizing brutal and unlawful immigration raids, trivializing the nationwide affordability crisis and launching a costly war with Iran that is opposed by more than two-thirds of Americans.

Of course, none of the chaos on the other side of the aisle lets Democrats off the hook for their mistakes or shortcomings.

For instance, they don't know how to take a win.

Many Democrats might not realize it, but they recently scored a big win in Michigan, where they emerged from a Senate Democratic primary election with a candidate who checks a lot of boxes. Abdul El-Sayed is a physician who at this point probably knows as much about politics as he does medicine. The Michigan native successfully marketed himself as a political outsider, and yet he has an impressive set of political skills. He is not a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, but he is DSA-adjacent since he shares some of their progressive policies. He's a natural-born politician, and it shows.

In fact, I'm surprised that the Democratic establishment can't see it. I honestly don't know how these people got so confused, so uncertain and so tangled up in their own web of contradictions.

Let me clarify. By "these people", I don't mean those everyday, rank-and-file Democratic voters — many of whom are deflated, disgusted and disillusioned with having to choose between two bad options: "Republican" and "Republican-lite." Those voters are not the problem. The real problem is a skittish Democratic establishment that wants to keep doing things the way it always has and then hope for a better outcome. The problem is the party honchos and the name-brand Democratic leaders who can't stand the thought that they're losing control over which candidates voters choose to lead them.

Think about how turned around the party bosses are. Presumably, they got into politics to serve the public; now they hold the public in such contempt that they don't listen to people's concerns or pleas.

The Democratic establishment fancies candidates with elite academic credentials. Five of the last seven Democratic presidential hopefuls went to Harvard or Yale, and one went to Oxford. El-Sayed attended the University of Michigan, Oxford University — where he was a Rhodes Scholar — and medical school at Columbia University.

The establishment wants candidates with sharp political skills. Think Bill Clinton or Barack Obama, each of whom served two terms as president. El-Sayed is an expert communicator who has a firm grasp on the facts, a sense of humor and an understanding of how to use video and social media to connect with younger voters.

Finally, the establishment wants fighters who will clobber Trump and his MAGA enablers. Democratic voters want that too. El-Sayed is a brawler. Speaking to supporters on the day after he won the primary, he went for the jugular of his Republican opponent in the general election: Mike Rogers. El-Sayed described the former congressman as "a guy whose politics and vision and perspective are old" and the embodiment of the "worst of all versions of the Republican Party."

Everything that members of the Democratic establishment said they wanted, the political universe served up to them in Michigan. Now they don't want it anymore?

Of course, like any political movement, the DSA is a mixed bag. They're winning some races, but losing others. But three things are clear: a lot of Democrats are hungry for progressive politics and they want a fighter; many lost faith in the Democratic Party establishment, which in many ways resembles its Republican counterpart; and younger voters in particular are open to a pitch from DSA candidates because they're not afraid of the big bad word — socialism.

It always comes down to the candidates. But when the best choice happens to be a progressive on the far left, those in the Democratic establishment need to swallow their pride and get with the program. They can either join the parade or get trampled by it.

To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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