I thought referring to Bernie as a "socialist" as so many news articles do, would hurt him.

[randys1]

Now I am not so sure.

Maybe it is the younger generation who havent been taught to fear the word the way the older generations were.

Maybe it is when people hear what he has to say they realize the word isnt scary after all.

I wanna see "Joe the not so good Plumber" come out and explain why the redistribution of wealth is such a bad idea, after all.

[unblock]

1. i think the right-wing have overplayed their rhetorical hand.

people now know how to read right-wing propaganda much as russians once knew how to read pravda.

sure, plenty of people are up to their ears in kool-aid and grab their gunz at the mere mention of socil1sm.

but by now i think a lot of people have become numb to the scaremongering.

[randys1]

2. When I think of how much better off we would all be if we had his policies in place

It just drives me nuts to know how far away we are from having it.

[unblock]

6. i think we'll get there, but it'll take demographic changes that haven't yet come to full fruition.

i'm really, really looking forward to the redistricting after the 2020 census.

[cascadiance]

4. I think the Koch brothers know it will bite them in the a$$ if they play this card too hard...

Since their father as well as the rest of the Koch family owes their billions from working with communist dictator Joseph Stalin after WWII... If they push too hard on "socialist" as an epithet for Bernie, we can play that card back on them that much harder!

Sticking to the issues we can show how much more three dimensional "socialism" is when it is coupled with a good democratic power structure that puts it in place where the people want and need it.

[Avalux]

3. One detail to keep in mind....

Bernie calls himself a democratic socialist, and explains what it means....a lot different than being labeled a socialist by the media and then trying to distance himself from it (as any other candidate would and has). If Bernie looks like a serious threat they may go after him tooth and nail, but I don't think it will ruffle him. Honesty and integrity come to mind.

[randys1]

5. I have noted that Bernie and I are Democratic Socialists and have been for a long time.

But so far that tag isnt sticking in the MSM.

So yes it needs to be distinguished but until it is we need to de-fang the word "socialism" by being honest about what it can be, even though full on socialism is NOT what we propose.

[Gregorian]

7. People don't believe the hype, even if only subconsciously.

Even the typical teabagger sees the good in the notion of where the economic justice is coming from.

We were lied to about tobacco, communism, war, sugar, global warming, and a plethora of things.

Oh, this is a must see if anyone wants to see where we really should go with economics. I'm utterly impressed with the certainty that we have that getting away from a system where people are at odds with each other on an economic hierarchy will be a good day.

This may not seem relevant until you get into it.

So yes, everyone knows Bernie's path is a move in the right direction.

[winter is coming]

8. If you get your "facts" from Fox News or you're old enough to collect SS, you might care.

Otherwise, not so much.