We can't afford to vote for Bernie because Republicans will call him "Socialist".

[bvar22]

The above is a non-argument which is equally applicable to Hillary or O'Malley, or Sanders.
It has never been a good argument, or a Democratic Party argument. Hearing it from supposed Democrats is nauseating.

The Republicans have branded EVERY Single Democratic Presidential contender as a "Socialist" since before FDR. Like Obama, the Republicans WILL attack Hillary as a "Socialist" if she wins the Primary.
So THAT Hillary argument is mis-direction at best, or demonstrates a shocking lack of knowledge about the history of our elections over the last 80 years.

Hillary WILL also be branded a "Socialist" by the Republicans in the General Election.
That is a certainty.


When deciding POLICY, or choosing our candidates, I long ago stopped ANY consideration of what the Republicans will say about us.
Republicans gonna do what Republicans are gonna do, whether it is Hillary or Sanders.

I am stunned at the number of posts on DU that insist we must choose our election strategy based on what the Republicans are going to say.
Fuck the Republicans!!!
The Republicans will NOT choose MY candidate for the Democratic Party nomination,
and to argue that we must do what the Republicans want us to do so they will be nice to us is pure BullShit.

Again, The Republicans have branded EVERY Democratic nominee a "Socialist" (or worse)...since before FDR, and if Hillary is our nominee, she WILL face that too.

[MuseRider]

1. Well said! n/t

[TheBlackAdder]

2. Hmm. A Passive Socialist Democrat versus a Maniacal Fascist Republican? Socialist wins! nt

[restorefreedom]

3. socialist is the least of what repubs will level at her. nt

[ViseGrip]

44. BUT ALL OF THEM ARE SOCIALISTS TOO! They are all 'teet' suckers, more than socialists!

[restorefreedom]

45. right. corporate welfare run amok. but they think they are rich

becsuse of the "free" market

[NorthCarolina]

4. It's a silly argument that will net them nothing.

Actually, I tend to think it's far more apt to bite them in the ass.

[CorporatistNation]

39. I Am Thinking That That $600K Check From Goldman Will In The End... BITE THE HARDEST!

Notice HRC had ZERO retort for that one when Bernie mentioned it... Ahhh those damn speaking fees....

[emulatorloo]

5. I'd say "well said," but that's taken already. Great analysis n/t

[tk2kewl]

6. ...And Bernie's the *only* Democrat with the guts to say "Yes I am! And here's why"

[FBaggins]

8. Yet that's why the OP is mistaken

The risk with running Bernie is not that they'll call him a socialist - it's that he can't claim that it's an inappropriate label for them to use.

Run him anyway.

[tk2kewl]

13. he get's to explain why even *FBaggins* is a socialist

[tk2kewl]

15. here's Thom Hartmann on why both you and Joe Republican are democratic socialists

http://crooksandliars.com/heather/thom-hartmann-day-life-joe-middle-class-re

[Uncle Joe]

19. By doing that Bernie goes on the offense instead of playing defense and defines himself. n/t

[Utopian Leftist]

7. If we could be honest with ourselves . . .

If the American "left" would simply own the word 'socialist', stop running in fear from vast right-wing conspiracies, and acknowledge that indeed WE ARE Democratic Socialist in our outlook, not only in name but in Spirit too, then not only would the label lose its ability to harm us, but we would also find that THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS ARE ESSENTIALLY DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST, ALREADY! They had been Democratic Socialist all along, but we Democrats were not honest about ourselves, about how far the Clintons shifted our party to the right . . . and so they could not find us . . . until now!

[MariaThinks]

9. it is not a nonargument

the word socialist is highly unelectable here. I don't agree with it, but its true. Calling yourself liberal or socialist may make you feel good and truthful, but the election will be lost and those values will not be protected by the right wing imbeciles.

[bvar22]

18. Do you agree that the Republicans will also immediately brand Hillary as a "Socialist"

if she manages to get the Nomination?
..and that we will hear that through the entire election?

That IS what the Republican Party does, and I am disturbed that the Hillary Campaign has adopted this Republican strategy.

[sarge43]

23. Yeah, letting the Repugs define Democrats always works so well.

At long last we have a contender who speaks the truth without "oh, whatever will the Republicans say?!". If we going down, let's go down for a change being true to ourselves and the American people.

[MariaThinks]

49. it certainly did between 1980 and 1992 and between 2000& 2008 and then in the house since 2010

I think not understanding and responding to an adversary properly has made us lose a lot of elections.

[A Simple Game]

25. Yet more and more polls show that you are wrong. n/t

[passiveporcupine]

27. Sorry, but those are Hillary scare tactics

red baiting, if you will.

Times are changing. People are not as afraid of the word socialist as they used to be.

[Lage Nom Ai]

32. Based on that school of thought

I as a socialist and a liberal should hide in the closet so that I don't offend the right just to win the vote. I am proud that I believe in social programs that help all of our citizens. No matter who uses those services, even the right who uses them the most. I try to explain to those who don't get it that we are all socialist in one form or another. I try to remove the fear of the word because that is all it is, fear.

[DirkGently]

10. This is a fight we appear to be winning already.

I think the greatest significance of Sanders' remarkable come from so-far-behind-no-one-could-even-see-him success is that we have shifted the Overton Window a bit.

For years (decades, now) the progressive base has been arguing with the Democratic donor class over what is possible and what can be achieved in terms of reasonable economic balance. Most major democracies have already concluded that universal healthcare, progressive taxation that actually works, and strong labor participation in business are the normal, reasonable way to do things.

But here, it's argued that we are stuck with a grossly imbalanced "center right" capitalist Wild West forever, and we're just lucky the libertarians haven't taken over and gotten rid of government services altogether.

THAT CAN NO LONGER BE SAID. Not with a straight face, anyway.

Regardless of whether Sanders or Clinton is the Democratic nominee in 2016, the idea that every basic, commonplace notion of social programming, effective corporate regulation and fair taxation of the wealthiest people and business enterprises is not "off the table," "pie in the sky," or any other such nonsense.

Americans have heard all that, accepted it, and seen what they got for it. They may not elect a socialist-leaning pro-national healthcare, bank-breaking President this time. But the spell is broken.

We don't have to have to be limited to a party that represents the rich, and another party that also represents the rich, but is open to some progress on social issues here and there.

The pendulum is swinging back.

[pinebox]

11. I always love sharing this

Ahhh yes good times my friends XD

[cascadiance]

12. Too bad presidents are limited to two terms... We could then AGAIN REELECT a socialist 3 times!!!

Just like we did right before the Republicans wanted to keep socialists out of office, before the Kochs figured they needed to work harder to limit socialism in the Democratic Party by funding and controlling the DLC to take over the party for the economic royalists from within instead of having that socialist that got reelected 3 times who got cheered for taking on the economic royalists inspire more to do the same in the future. At least them calling that president a "socialist" didn't work then when they tried to get the Americans to throw that president out.

They're discovering I think that ultimately they can't buy the American populace and succeed in telling us "No We Can't!" any more!

[John Poet]

14. My Mama told me

"sticks and stones may break your bones..."

Getting called "socialist" or :::gasp::: even "communist"
by a Republican
is a qualification for the office.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

16. Hillary is nervous so they are throwing all sorts of stuff

Why would we be frightened of Republicans?

[KittyWampus]

17. Republicans won't call him socialist. They'll call him Communist and probably have pix

of his office w/ the Soviet flag.

[bvar22]

21. The Republicans have called...

..the Corporate Obama Administration "Socialist", and even "Communist"...to Obama's amusement as well as mine.
They WILL do it to Hillary too.
I guarantee it.

Do you really believe the Republicans will NOT go after Hillary for her friendly relationship with that Commie Bastard Putin?

[Kalidurga]

35. Don't be silly

Of course they will call him a commie and they don't need pics of him with the Soviet flag, that is what photoshop is for.

[neverforget]

38. I had a co-worker just last week call Obama the "communist in the White House"

We belong to a union and yet he thinks that. Go figure. There is no reasoning with them so what does it matter?

[Skwmom]

20. If it's an Establishment Dem they won't be using socialist this year. They have much more effective

labels.

[SoapBox]

22. Socialist, in my opinion...

Beats the daylights out of Republican or Capitalism or...

Any of those.

[Doctor_J]

24. Excellent thoughts as usual bvar22

rec

[abelenkpe]

26. The right called President Obama a socialist

And they call European countries socialist. They've made socialist seem Ok doing so. socialism isn't scary to younger generations

[WillyT]

28. HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!!

[kimbutgar]

29. Republicans are liars and will say and do anything to further their agenda

If anyone has even half a brain realizes the republicans are enemies of the working clas Americans. They just don't care about us. Sadly they have been able to propagandise a swath of suckers with their lies.

[Cassiopeia]

30. If Ted Cruz was running as a Democrat

he would be branded as a socialist by the GOP. They use that label every single election, from the township level on up.

[gwheezie]

31. It's not a good reason to not support him

And I will vote for Hillary in my primary BTW. The GOP is going to call the dem nominee a bunch of names no matter who it is.

[Stellar]

33. Why is everybody in the Hillary coalition playing that one note....HARD!!!

That's beginning to look a little strange even to me, and I don't have a dog in this race just yet. I may need to take a closer look at Senator Sanders.

[appalachiablue]

46. Hard, difficult & No We Can't. A defeatism & negativity recipe for maintaining the status quo IMO.

Not what you'd call an inspiring platform to say the least. Just doesn't work. Candidates know this. People want something to vote FOR, obviously.

[Stellar]

47. perhaps, IDK. nt

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

34. I'd say "fuck 'em", but this is a family website.

[blackspade]

36. we have a winner!

[Enthusiast]

37. Kicked and recommended!

Well done, bvar22.

[vkkv]

40. K&R

[Autumn]

41. Fuck that, the republicans can suck rotten eggs. I'm voting Bernie n/t

[Spitfire of ATJ]

42. Goes back to the Democrat curling up in the corner pleading, "Please don't hurt me."....

The right-wing media in this country has lost what little power it had.

I predict it will have a resurgence if Hillary wins.

[hobbit709]

43. The Republicans will label anyone to the left of Temujin as a socialist.

And what really pisses me off is the fact that the corporatist wing of the Democratic Party is willing to do so also.

[MisterP]

48. by 1987 they were calling Reagan a Commie

Last edited Thu Jan 21, 2016, 07:23 PM - Edit history (1)

what's important is that we have a candidate who doesn't throw everything we need into the fire to desperately prove the're not