She says it with much disdain. And insists all Democrats are socialist and in November the country will not vote for them. She is so matter of fact about it.

I vehemently dislike her and sometimes turn it off when she particularly nasty.

...Hillary (LOL), Obama (LOL), Bernie (less LOL but only slightly). It’s their go to boogie man word for anyone with a D after their name.

There is a Democratic Socialist Party. But neither AOC nor BS will run as one. I mean, what does it say when the two most prominent Democratic Socialists in the US bemoan the stigma of their being Socialists, while they themselves avoid registering and running as Democratic Socialists.

"I need to leverage the legacy your party has built over the decades, but your party still sucks."

out recently.. saying "The Democratic Party is the party of 1% and Not workers"

But his fans on DU say "he votes with the Dem Party 90% of the time". So why does he vote with the Dem Party if we're what he SAYS we are?! He's always calling us insult Buzz words..

This is what upsets me the most.... Why do they only run under the "Democratic" label when it suits them?

And if the DSA does not want to be labeled as 'socialists' then they ought to come up with a different name. The GOP's targeting the DSA is a political strategy to dissuade voters in November. Ooooo, the socialists are coming. As Dems, we can't afford to get caught up in that. Rather all our energies need to be focused on the task at hand: neutering the Trumpster and his enablers and saving the f*cking country.

But I take your point. Even Bernie Sanders admitted he ran as a Democrat to take advantage of the funding and publicity, then resumed his independent, naysaying status after the fact.

Regardless of how strong or weak they may be, they carry the soul and passion of the Party with them. In my opinion, Democrats could not win without them. Just my opinion.

Words have meaning. In Snglish, the modifier comes before the noun.

They could proclaim themselves to be Social Democrats, a term with a long and clearly defined meaning. They chose not to.

I am not a Democratic Socialist, I am a Social Democrat. Just like never letting people say HRC lost the election. She did not. The dumpster won the elector college through fraudulent means. Lawrence O'Donnell is good at this lately.

outlets asking about this:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/6/27/17509604/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-democratic-socialist-of-america

I saw one yesterday. She was being interviewed by some conservative and was made to look like a clown. That is a big part of their strategy in the upcoming election, in my opinion. They want to brand the entire Democratic Party as "socialists". They are desperate.

member of the Democratic Socialists of America, is this really unexpected? Definitely not from the R/W echo chamber

That is labels can be a double edged sword. It also provides an opportunity for the R/W to use it as a distraction.


In my view it would have been far more pragmtic to identify as a Democrat rather than a Democratic Socialist, that way you focus on the issues that you hold important, rather then opening the semantics of what Socialism means or doesn't mean

As an aside I don't have a FB or Twitter account, and after what happened in 2016 with social media, that it is a cesspool for misinformation should be quite clear by now

US. They will call anybody a Socialist. Doesn't matter--to them--if it has any basis in reality. Our job to is stop letting them define us.

The Democratic party doesn't identify itself as Democratic Socialists.

Democrats come from all sides of the spectrum, and they identify as an inclusive party, with elements from the left, middle, and conservative

We have a big tent. And we can't allow pukes to define acceptable parameters. That is all.

"Jeff Stein wrote about the DSA in 2017 so Vox could clear up some misconceptions.

What does DSA believe in?
Like most socialist organizations, DSA believes in the abolition of capitalism in favor of an economy run either by “the workers” or the state — though the exact specifics of “abolishing capitalism” are fiercely debated by socialists.
Stein gave more specifics:
In practice, that means DSA [members advocate] ending private ownership of a wide range of industries whose products are viewed as “necessities,” which they say should not be left to those seeking to turn a profit. According to the DSA’s current mission statement, the government should ensure that all citizens receive adequate food, housing, health care, child care, and education. DSA also believes that the government should “democratize” private businesses — i.e., force owners to give workers control of them — to the greatest extent possible.
But DSA members also say that overthrowing capitalism must include the eradication of “hierarchical systems” that lie beyond the market as well. As a result, DSA supports the missions of Black Lives Matter, gay and lesbian rights, and environmentalism as integral parts of this broader “anti-capitalist” program.
“Socialism is about democratizing the family to get rid of patriarchal relations; democratizing the political sphere to get genuine participatory democracy; democratizing the schools by challenging the hierarchical relationship between the teachers of the school and the students of the school,” said Jared Abbott, a member of the DSA’s national steering committee. “Socialism is the democratization of all areas of life, including but not limited to the economy.”

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/6/27/17509604/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-democratic-socialist-of-america

That is how she identifies herself.

How she wants people to characterize what she means by that is going to be up to her, but regardless, because she has chosen to be part of the DSA, and appears to embrace the ideals of that organization, she has introduced it into the conversation, whether the connotation is positive or negative to people it is up to her to explain what she means by it.

Because she has identified herself as a Democratic Socialist, what that means will come in the conversation, and it won't just be the faux or right wing outlets.

run for president in 2020 as a democrat instead of an independent

And recently with "progressive".

Whatever word is used, they will attempt to turn it into a pejorative.

Now when 26% of the voters self-identified as liberals in 2016, compared to 21% when I started following this.

Switching to socialist was an easy choice. We would have been bombarded with that term with Sanders as nominee. Merely a 2-year delay, trying to combat the national tilt

and other labels won't connect it to the former Soviet Socialist Republic and other communist countries.

already call ANYONE who disagrees with them much worse names.

to others as that really know what it means.

JFC

The parallels between excessive wealth and compulsive hoarding are stunning.

Try to touch a hoarder's hoard? You get met with visceral personal replies, the hoarder tells you that you MUST hate them, etc.
Try to touch a billionaire's billions? The same thing, you are told you are envious, are told you are a communist, you want to kill them, etc.

Billionaires are not well, they need help, not enabling.

...or what they do with it. Advocate for progressive taxes to cover Government needs.

Complaining THAT someone is rich never resonates with voters.

Been going on for decades. Now they are just calling other non-socialists, socialist. Welcome to being a Democrat.

“Keep an eye on it. It looks like a trend.”

Been going on for a long time. More established than a trend.

...are barely old enough to drink.

happen. AOC proclaims herself to the world to be a Democratic Socialist and thinks, or perhaps is told by those around her, that it's a smart thing to do.

This is not smart. The same would've happened to Sanders. The repugs would've had a field day.

It just is not going to work in most of the rest of the country, and his acolytes apparently are going to learn this the hard way.

with the Vermont Democratic Party is not repeatable in the real world, yet he advises others to... well, I better stop before I get alerted on.

they will apply the term to ANYONE, regardless

ignore them. we can't allow the right to define us in any way

And instead focus on explaining and building a platform that speaks directly to the American people and let the people decide.

Seriously? I wish it was true, because we will win in a blue landslide if it was. Because they will again & again label us many times.

Why not try to be honest about what we know can change the USA for the better?

Yes, we maybe labeled as fighting for the Working Class. But that is a good thing. Not bad!

I don’t care what you call it.

want good affordable healthcare. You are rewriting a lot of history and dismissing millions of Democrats who don't embrace that particular political/economic theory even though they are committed to providing good affordable healthcare. That is tragically short-sighted since we will never enact universal healthcare in any form without a broad coalition of people who agree on that particular issue. Hell, probably most republicans want good affordable healthcare but you will never get them to say "I'm a socialist."

The Democratic Party Stands for

- Affordable healthcare
- medicare for all (not free)
- gun control assault weapons ban
- clean campaign finance
- support seniors, lgbtq
- mobilizing against climate change
- affordable college
- living wage

THIS IS NOT SOCIALISM. this is good solid democratic ideas.

Thanks for clarifying that you know the difference between the Democratic Party and socialism.

Last edited Sun Jul 29, 2018, 12:37 AM - Edit history (1)

I ask.

Democratic Socialists need to either explain the "socialist" part, or explain how they're different from Democratic capitalism.

They seem to think the Nordic Model is one of socialism. I'm not even sure Sanders understands the difference.

Meanwhile, as others have pointed out, right wingers have been calling Democrats socialists for as long as I can remember.

... told you so!

did!

They've been calling us socialists and Communists forever. SSDD.

and its definition -- which most Democrats don't accept.

Democratic Socialists are fundamentally hardline Socialists, unwilling to compromise.

use the gOP tactics against them. Link all democratic issues to "freedom" and "Love of Country and Flag"...make GOP attack freedom and love of country.

God, I can't believe how ignorant democratic campaigns are and their inability formulate SMART strategies

My rwnj cousin hates on all social programs, but when I ask him how he feels about SS & Medicare, "which you are going to be eligible for very soon," I get crickets for a response. I remind him that we don't have a true capitalistic system, We have privatized profits & socialized risk. I'm not saying industry should never be bailed out, but don't go on about the "free market" & hate on the human "takers," and look the other way while the corpos gorge at the trough.

Don’t they ever get tired of this shit? They’ve been labeling every Democrat a “socialist” and “libtard” for years. This fall, Fox News will try to convince folks that Joe Manchin and Claire McCaskill are the two most left-wing commie sympathizers who’ve ever existed. I don’t know who they’re trying to convince anyway. Those who watch Fox News or listen to right-wing hate radio are never going to vote for a Dem anyway. Who cares what they try to do? Eyes on the prize: vote, and get out the vote!!!

That is what he is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Socialist_Party

Almost no one in America knows what the word means, so it's just an analogue for viewers fears of [insert irrational fear].

It's crucial the people that support it understand what it means though... Lots of people on the left in America seem confused by the term as well.

Which is no surprise considering most people aren't taught the meaning in school but learn it from random propaganda online or in the media.

The right are Fascists.