[Note--I drafted the bulk of this piece on June 6, 2019 but didn't publish it. On June 12th, 2019 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders made virtually every point in here in his groundbreaking beautiful speech at George Washington University. Listen to that speech regardless. It is now an important part of American History.]
There is a lot of mythology out there about how Democrats can't win the presidency in 2020 with a Democratic socialism (often mislabled "Socialist" and we'll talk about that too) message. I maintain that democratic socialism is a winning message, and one that is better embraced than run away from.
1. They will call Democrats "socialists" regardless. No matter how "business friendly" or compromising the positions are of the candidates Democrats put forward, Republicans always always always label whatever it is "socialism." Obamacare, which was and is a market-based approach to health coverage, was labeled "socialism." Clinton care in the early 90's which was even more market-based because it did NOT contain expansion of Medicaid was labeled "socialism." Even raising the minimum wage is labeled "socialism" when convenient. [In his speech, Bernie also reaches back to FDR, Harry Truman and LBJ's most popular policies being labeled socialist] Every smart criminal trial lawyer knows that if your client has a potentially weak point, its better to "bring it out on a direct" instead of cross-examination. In other words, don't let your opponent define you. Every other Democrat Bill Clinton on has run from the label and let their opponents define them. Bernie Sanders takes it head on and says, let's see, what's wrong with spending our hard-earned tax dollars on programs that benefit all Americans so that we can all have a better life?
2. Socialist programs are largely popular and sustainable. There's a reason that FDR, our most social Democratic president, was elected 4 times and Democrats need to remember it. In the New Deal and subsequent legislation, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created social programs (coupled with wartime economy yes) that lifted us out of the Great Depression and put us on a strong economic footing. During these times Social Security Administration, Unemployment Insurance, Federal Deposit Insurance and agricultural subsidies programs, all of which are somewhat in place today, and largely popular were created.
The reason the "no middle ground" is so important (but a terrible battle cry, it needs to be recast as "We include everyone" or "leave no one out" or "A world that works for everyone" not as if people who want Medicare for All or the Green New Deal are intractable) is that when social programs include everyone they are popular. Social Security, Unemployment Insurance and Medicare (created under President Lyndon B Johnson in 1965) which serve all people when they turn a certain age have remained immensely popular from the time of their inception. Other programs which are income-based including Medicaid--health care for the poor-and other programs from LBJ's War on Poverty: HeadStart, Food Stamps, VISTA, and Legal Services tend to be controversial and have been under attack from, and under erosion, for decades. The safety net is vital and needs to be expanded, but the legacy of Ronald Reagan bled into a long line of Democrats like the Clintons who participate in demonizing and penalizing the alarming vast swath of working poor in America. Other countries like Britain and Canada show that when EVERYONE is in a program, from the Prime Minister's children to the woman cleaning your home, it remains popular and demands full funding. That is why Medicare for ALL, not some, is so important. That is why Universal affordable preschool and college (which is a right in other enlightened nations) is so important. When we're all in, we're all in. The second we start leaving people out, the program is under attack.
3. Republicans are Socialists whenever it involves bailing out the mistakes of the "Free Market" The Republican Party is fine with the US taxpayers bailing out bad bank, savings in loan and other investment and business decisions made by private enterprise. That is spending our hard-earned tax dollars on bad business decisions but somehow because the money goes to business instead of hard-working individuals, it is okay. Recently the Trump administration announced a new round of Farm subsidies (presumably to shore up support in agricultural states like Iowa that have been hit hard by the trade war with China). Those are also socialist policies that are embraced when convenient.
4. "It's the economy, stupid" applies to the real people's economy not the Wall Street economy. While the Wall Street economy may be booming, that doesn't trickle down to Main Street. Social Democratic programs like Medicare for All, raising the minimum wage and universal preschool do. Elections are won on who best makes this case.
For more read my post, It's Our Economy (and We're Not) Stupid
5. Social Democracy is the best antidote to authoritarian oligarchy. While candidates can't and shouldn't run away from the label of socialism because large vested interest-funded campaigns will use it as a scare tactic regardless, it is smart to distinguish between socialism and social democracy and in this speech Bernie has done so. Social democracy is where we have social programs funded by taxpayers in a democracy, rather than socialist authoritarian regimes. Indeed he goes further and calls for a Economic Bill of Rights (the last piece of unfinished business in FDR's New Deal). Bernie makes an eloquent case that social democracy is indeed the greatest antidote to authoritarian oligarchy that the current president advocates. As Bernie so often points out, we have a situation where the wealthiest 3 Americans own more wealth than the bottom 50 percent of Americans (a fact that Politifact rates as true btw). The rise of the authoritarian right in this country and in the world can be directly traced to increasing economic insecurity particularly among white people. The right uses this economic insecurity to divide us, and rather than have us notice that Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos pays no taxes and get angry about that, they direct us to be angry at immigrants, at muslims, at Jews, at each other. Social democratic programs like Medicare for All use our tax dollars to create economic security. When we have economic security, we don't need to attack one another.
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