Will Trump's Socialism attacks on Dems work?

[Illini Moderate]

I think they will. He is very good at hammering away at a message and I think by the end of the campaign, many people will actually believe him. The contents of The Green New Deal will help his case. Most people don't understand how the legislative process works, and many will think that all of the proposal's contents are set to become law immediately under a Democratic President.

Any ideas on how Democrats could counter?

[Zache]

Would they work any better or be any different from the socialism attacks conservatives have been throwing at the Democrats for the last 20 years? Would the common voter really be able to discern the difference between Obama-era "socialism" and AOC/Sanders-era "socialism"?

[Politician]

No.

[Stranger in a strange land]

I think they will. He is very good at hammering away at a message and I think by the end of the campaign, many people will actually believe him. The contents of The Green New Deal will help his case. Most people don't understand how the legislative process works, and many will think that all of the proposal's contents are set to become law immediately under a Democratic President.

Any ideas on how Democrats could counter?

If Trump couldn't get a wall despite having a trifecta, then how are dems supposed to get the Green New Deal (which much of the party leadership doesn't even support)?

[Gustaf]

538 Thinks it might well: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/is-socialism-still-an-effective-political-bogeyman/

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[TML]

I think it will work in the opposite way of his intentions.

For most of the 20th century, most people associated the word socialism with authoritarianism. Not anymore. Nowadays, most younger people associate this word with social democracy and equality, like some countries in northern & western Europe. Therefore, the more people try to use the word socialism in the sense of authoritarianism, the more appeal it will have, especially among younger voters.

[McGarnagle]

Trump's attacks will backfire.

[WoodlandAscetic]

I don't think it'll effect people who would actually vote specific candidates. For those uninformed about it and those Independents who are more fiscally conservative leaning it could definitely work. More than anything it'll just create wider divisions than what already exist between the factions in America.

[Xing]

It's not going to matter. Republicans have been labeling Democrats as socialists for decades.

[GM Team Member and Deputy PPT WB]

It's not going to matter. Republicans have been labeling Democrats as socialists for decades.

[YE]

It's not going to matter. Republicans have been labeling Democrats as socialists for decades.

[WoodlandAscetic]

It's not going to matter. Republicans have been labeling Democrats as socialists for decades.

Heck, they've been labeling and our whole society has been labeling Democrats as left-wing for decades. Our country's whole understanding of political philosophy is warped.

[Insomnian]

No. Democrats will scream racism, Republicans will scream socialism, and everyone in the middle will ignore words that end with ism.

[John Dule]

It's not going to matter. Republicans have been labeling Democrats as socialists for decades.

Yeah, and now they're actually right.

[WoodlandAscetic]

It's not going to matter. Republicans have been labeling Democrats as socialists for decades.

Yeah, and now they're actually right.

Which Democrats are calling for public ownership of the means of production or worker ownership of the means of production? Would be a miracle if there were any, but all I see are social democrats and neoliberals.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

No, due to the tax reform act, that was a tax give away to the rich. The socialism attack that Romney used against Obama will be just as effective as Trump attacks.

[Donerail]

the greatest thing that Trump can do for socialism in this country is continuing to attack it

[John Dule]

It's not going to matter. Republicans have been labeling Democrats as socialists for decades.

Yeah, and now they're actually right.

Which Democrats are calling for public ownership of the means of production or worker ownership of the means of production? Would be a miracle if there were any, but all I see are social democrats and neoliberals.

Ah, and once again we're back to the dictionary definition of "socialism" as soon as it becomes convenient. When Bernie chose to adopt that label, he validated those attacks in the eyes of the voters. But please, tell me about how ignorant conservatives misuse the term, while ignoring that Sanders misused it when he self-applied it in the first place.

[WoodlandAscetic]

It's not going to matter. Republicans have been labeling Democrats as socialists for decades.

Yeah, and now they're actually right.

Which Democrats are calling for public ownership of the means of production or worker ownership of the means of production? Would be a miracle if there were any, but all I see are social democrats and neoliberals.

Ah, and once again we're back to the dictionary definition of "socialism" as soon as it becomes convenient. When Bernie chose to adopt that label, he validated those attacks in the eyes of the voters. But please, tell me about how ignorant conservatives misuse the term, while ignoring that Sanders misused it when he self-applied it in the first place.

I'm just as critical of Bernie Sanders's use of the word socialist as I am of conservatives. America as a whole is very ignorant of political philosophy. I am a communitarian and a distributist (both are rooted in traditionalist conservative thought), I have no qualms going after any side.

[Technocracy Timmy]

It's not going to matter. Republicans have been labeling Democrats as socialists for decades.

Yeah, and now they're actually right.

Which Democrats are calling for public ownership of the means of production or worker ownership of the means of production? Would be a miracle if there were any, but all I see are social democrats and neoliberals.

Ah, and once again we're back to the dictionary definition of "socialism" as soon as it becomes convenient. When Bernie chose to adopt that label, he validated those attacks in the eyes of the voters. But please, tell me about how ignorant conservatives misuse the term, while ignoring that Sanders misused it when he self-applied it in the first place.

I'm just as critical of Bernie Sanders's use of the word socialist as I am of conservatives. America as a whole is very ignorant of political philosophy. I am a communitarian and a distributist (both are rooted in traditionalist conservative thought), I have no qualms going after any side.

Oh my God, an actual West Virginia poster.

How are you doing?

[WoodlandAscetic]

It's not going to matter. Republicans have been labeling Democrats as socialists for decades.

Yeah, and now they're actually right.

Which Democrats are calling for public ownership of the means of production or worker ownership of the means of production? Would be a miracle if there were any, but all I see are social democrats and neoliberals.

Ah, and once again we're back to the dictionary definition of "socialism" as soon as it becomes convenient. When Bernie chose to adopt that label, he validated those attacks in the eyes of the voters. But please, tell me about how ignorant conservatives misuse the term, while ignoring that Sanders misused it when he self-applied it in the first place.

I'm just as critical of Bernie Sanders's use of the word socialist as I am of conservatives. America as a whole is very ignorant of political philosophy. I am a communitarian and a distributist (both are rooted in traditionalist conservative thought), I have no qualms going after any side.

Oh my God, an actual West Virginia poster.

How are you doing?

Haha, are West Virginians rare here? I'm originally an Ohioan.

I'm doing great in my personal life. Political life, eh, live in Trump/Manchin country.

[Blair]

Socialism they say!

[Illini Moderate]

I think they will. He is very good at hammering away at a message and I think by the end of the campaign, many people will actually believe him. The contents of The Green New Deal will help his case. Most people don't understand how the legislative process works, and many will think that all of the proposal's contents are set to become law immediately under a Democratic President.

Any ideas on how Democrats could counter?

If Trump couldn't get a wall despite having a trifecta, then how are dems supposed to get the Green New Deal (which much of the party leadership doesn't even support)?

I said people will *think* it will

[Progressive Pessimist]

They probably will this time. Trump is very successful at fear-mongering in the dumbest ways possible, hell he's already started, and those will probably resonate better than any of the more cerebral attempts to scare people about Socialism by pre-Trump Republicans. I can just picture an undecided voter not wanting to vote for the Democratic candidate because they're afraid that beef and dairy products will be taxed or some s*** like that so that the Democrats can pay for Wakandan vibranium weaponry to be distributed to the inner cities, or whatever.

[SN2903]

Yes not because he is 100 percent right but because Democrat messaging is awful