Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Trump's 'Socialism' Attack On Democrats Has Its Roots In Cold War Fear
NPR ^ | February 12, 2019 | by Mara Liasson

Posted on 02/12/2019 10:21:21 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer

There's a huge 2020 Democratic field forming for the chance to take on President Trump. Two more candidates officially announced over the weekend – Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

And while those two potentially embody the core split within the Democratic primary – pragmatism vs. pugilism – Trump will be waiting in the general election with another distinction he hopes to make: "socialism" vs. "greatness."

"The Democrat Party has never been more outside of the mainstream," Trump said in El Paso, Texas, on Monday night in what was his first campaign rally of 2019. "They're becoming the party of socialism, late-term abortion, open borders and crime."

It's a message he began trying out a week ago during his State of the Union address. He tied the unrest in Venezuela to domestic U.S. politics.

"Here in the United States, we are alarmed by the new calls to adopt socialism in our country," he said. "America was founded on liberty and independence, and not government coercion, domination and control. We are born free, and we will stay free. Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country."

The denunciation of socialism and the attempt to tie the philosophy to Democrats is Trump's and his campaign's attempt to invert the argument that he is an extremist. The president's sluggish approval rating means he is going to have to try and pull Democrats down with him - and given that surveys also show he would lose at this point to a generic Democrat, Trump also needs to show their candidates to be unelectable and out of step with the rest of America.

"He's the first president to never crack 50 [percent approval] in his first two years," said Bruce Mehlman, a Republican strategist and attorney who worked as an assistant secretary in the Commerce Department for technology policy. "The resistance is really energized, and that's part of why you saw the highest midterm turnout since 1914 last November. The economy has been really strong, but it's showing some worrisome signs. Mr. Mueller's report and/or Democratic oversight will likely make the waters choppier. And voters want change."

Republicans tried a version of Trump's inversion strategy to no avail in the 2018 midterm elections. They tried to paint Democrats as wanting to abolish ICE (the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency) and create single-payer health care.

Republicans said if the election turned out to be about that, as opposed to a more nuanced discussion of border security and pre-existing conditions, they felt they could win or hold their own. It didn't happen. Instead, in an election where Trump was front of mind, Democrats won over suburban voters and independents, and took back the House by flipping 40 seats.

In 2020, Trump gets to try to make the argument himself. And people close to him think he can make a winning one.

"At the end of the day, politics and elections are typically binary choices," said Andy Surabian, who worked in the 2016 Trump campaign war room, was political director for Tea Party Express and is now a political adviser to Donald Trump Jr. "The biggest gift to Trump is for Democrats to nominate what I call a 'kneeler,' someone who supports kneeling for the national anthem."

Mehlman added: "If the Dems are able to nominate a presidential nominee that appeals to the middle of the country, that's going to be very powerful. But if they go hard left, there is a path for Donald Trump to get re-elected."

It is, in theory, an advantage a president has when he's up for re-election with a locked-down base and no primary opposition - yet. His potential Democratic opponents will have to outflank each other, and that often can mean being the most stridently progressive (or conservative, in GOP primaries).

Already, many of the Democrats running or thinking about it are embracing Medicare-for-all and the Green New Deal. Both of those ideas have been put forward by the party's two highest-profile democratic socialists - Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

This is a fairly new debate to be taking place within the mainstream of the Democratic Party rather than at the fringes. Sanders caught fire in the 2016 primary race and gave a surprisingly strong challenge to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. Sanders didn't prevail, but the boldness of his ideas did.

It's going to be interesting to see how Democrats walk and define the line when it comes to socialism. The word makes many Americans - and some Democrats, especially older ones - uncomfortable.

A remarkable shift has happened in just the past decade, since the 2008 financial collapse - more Democrats now have a positive view of the word "socialism" (57 percent) than "capitalism" (43 percent), Gallup found last year.

That diverges from the country overall, as only slightly more than a third (37 percent) of Americans have a positive view of socialism. Socialism also rates lowest when people are asked about it in a list that includes small business, entrepreneurs, free enterprise, capitalism, big business and even the federal government. Since Trump's election, however, socialism is the only one on that list to gain popularity.

There is a huge generational divide: A majority of young people, those aged 18 to 29, see socialism positively and have a dimmer view of capitalism. Older Americans have a more sharply negative view of the term - 41 percent of those aged 30 to 49, 30 percent of those aged 50 to 64 and just 28 percent of those 65 and older view it positively.

This younger generation, after all, are not Cold War kids. Someone who is 29 was born the year before the fall of the Iron Curtain. The word socialism just doesn't have the same meaning for them as for those who lived through the nearly 50-year, post-World War II arms race with the Soviet Union and the underlying debate over the ideal society.

As viewed by Americans, that debate was between the free, capitalistic West on one side and the repressive communism and socialism of the USSR on the other.

Some Democrats are trying to find more nuance. Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, for example, sparked an interesting debate on the left with his tweet that he's "not a socialist" but does "believe that every American deserves health care," that "college should be debt free, and that America must lead boldly on climate change."

And Schatz may be on to something. When younger voters respond positively to "socialism" in polls, they're not saying they want the country to become like Venezuela or Cuba. To them, "socialism" is synonymous with a strong social safety net and an economy where big banks and billionaires pay - proportionately - their fair share in taxes.

President Trump is moving aggressively to define the Democrats as old-fashioned, Cold War-style socialists. Now, it's up to the Democrats to define what it is they are for.

Much of the difference comes down to semantics - the wording and view of what socialism really is.

The problem, though, is nuance doesn't usually play well in campaigns, especially in primaries.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: election2020; journalism; media; socialism
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-55 next last

Mara Liasson is the national political correspondent for NPR. Her reports can be heard regularly on NPR's award-winning newsmagazines Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Liasson provides extensive coverage of politics and policy from Washington, DC - focusing on the White House and Congress - and also reports on political trends beyond the Beltway.

1 posted on 02/12/2019 10:21:21 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Oldeconomybuyer

Oh good grief.


2 posted on 02/12/2019 10:22:56 AM PST by babble-on
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Oldeconomybuyer
Hey Mara!

"The denunciation of socialism and the attempt to tie the philosophy to Democrats is Trump's and his campaign's attempt to invert the argument that he is an extremist. The president's sluggish approval rating..."

The Democrats are the ones wedding themselves to socialism, which has FAILED every time it's been tried.

Trump's 52% Approval is NOT "sluggish"!!!!

3 posted on 02/12/2019 10:25:43 AM PST by G Larry (There is no great virtue in bargaining with the Devil)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: babble-on

Old world fear, we are all afraid! No stupid we know history


4 posted on 02/12/2019 10:26:00 AM PST by ronnie raygun (nic dip.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Oldeconomybuyer

Young Democrats don’t understand the evil of totalitarianism. They crave it.


5 posted on 02/12/2019 10:27:32 AM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Oldeconomybuyer

God help us.

I listen to people like her, and Juan Williams, and even this Stephen Hayes, and I think, “Man, I could do this without lifting a page and reading anything.”

then I realize, that’s exactly what these people do. They blabber without reading anything.


6 posted on 02/12/2019 10:29:22 AM PST by nikos1121
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Can we help nominate the weakest whack job to get the Democrat nomination? Black vote will be interesting so I say keep Kamala and Spartacus at bay.


7 posted on 02/12/2019 10:29:59 AM PST by DIRTYSECRET (urope. Why do they put up with this.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Oldeconomybuyer

Mara you are an imbecile and you probably have bad breath. Go away.


8 posted on 02/12/2019 10:30:54 AM PST by jmaroneps37 (Conservatism is truth. Liberalism is lies.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Oldeconomybuyer

Mara is typical NPR leftist. From her vantage Marx is centrist. She is worried the jig is up and people realize the Rats are a pack of tyrannical Socialists.


9 posted on 02/12/2019 10:30:57 AM PST by gibsonguy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Oldeconomybuyer

First comes socialism, than comes communism, their true agenda


10 posted on 02/12/2019 10:32:37 AM PST by Sarah Barracuda
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Oldeconomybuyer

Nope. President Trump’s “socialism” attack on America’s globalist enemies has its roots in natural law and in scripture. The harm done by socialism and similar jealousy-based views of the world is the reason why God put envy in the Ten Commandments, along with murder, adultery, theft, and perjury. Envy harms the individual who feels envy, it harms the individual who is the target of envy, and it undermines the culture as a whole.

Whether you reject envy because God told us to (and sensible people defer to God’s infinite wisdom) or because natural law and reason tell you that envy is destructive, all reasoning people should reject envy. To actually base your view of the world on such a negative and self-destructive perspective is sad. I don’t like having people steal from me because their envy tells them that I have more and that’s “unfair”, but I could live with the theft of my property. What I cannot accept is the harm that envy does to those who receive what they have not worked for. What I cannot accept is the wealth that I produce being used to destroy the lives of those who are told that they cannot fend for themselves and they need welfare.


11 posted on 02/12/2019 10:32:53 AM PST by Pollster1 ("Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: babble-on

No, Mara, PRESIDENT Trump’s attack on socialism has its roots in Democrat Frank Roosevelt’s Communist administration. This includes his dedicated Communist spies and operatives like Alger Hiss, the Rosenbergs, Harry Hopkins, Duncan Lee and other fellow travelers. Owen Lattimore, Solomon Adler and John Stewart Service.

This Washington’s Birthday Holiday, we should talk about this to everyone we see.


12 posted on 02/12/2019 10:33:33 AM PST by oldplayer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Oldeconomybuyer

National Propaganda Radio has to try to spin the truth that socialism fails every time it is tried.


13 posted on 02/12/2019 10:33:41 AM PST by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizen Means Born Here of Citizen Parents_Know Islam, No Peace-No Islam, Know Peace)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Oldeconomybuyer
"Republicans tried a version of Trump's inversion strategy to no avail in the 2018 midterm elections. They tried to paint Democrats as wanting to abolish ICE (the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency) and create single-payer health care."

That's not an inversion strategy, it's the truth. Democrats have already said so themselves.
We have a real time nightmare of socialism's end game going on in Venezuela right now, and people like the author are doing what they can to paper it over.
But she does have one point-the Democrats have to try and fool enough people that Democrats aren't for a green new deal, or abolishing ICE, or a whole host of other Marxiat policies to get elected.

14 posted on 02/12/2019 10:33:45 AM PST by Tench_Coxe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DIRTYSECRET

That would be Amy K from Minnesota. (who?!)

exactly.


15 posted on 02/12/2019 10:34:10 AM PST by cableguymn (We need a redneck in the white house....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Oldeconomybuyer

Nice lady. Still an idiot I see.


16 posted on 02/12/2019 10:35:38 AM PST by Nuc 1.1 (Nuc 1 Liberals aren't Patriots. Remember 1789!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Oldeconomybuyer

FRiend, I used to be a long time listener to NPR and tried hard to ignore their left leaning slant in order to get valuable insight on current events.

I gave up on them when DJT was elected.
I got sick of their sarcasm, dishonesty, hypocrisy, and anti-Trump bitch-fits.

I strongly suggest you give up on them, too.

Eff anti-American/Christian/Conservative NPR and their misfit marxist LGBTQ muslim-lov’in news of the weird.


17 posted on 02/12/2019 10:35:44 AM PST by MarchonDC09122009 (When is our next march on DC? When have we had enough?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Oldeconomybuyer
The denunciation of socialism and the attempt to tie the philosophy to Democrats is Trump's and his campaign's attempt to invert the argument that he is an extremist.

Mara, I have never known you to lie but you pulled off a doozy in that statement.

18 posted on 02/12/2019 10:37:15 AM PST by rjsimmon (The Tree of Liberty Thirsts)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tench_Coxe
Democrats have to try and fool enough people that Democrats

Fooling people is essential to Dems success at the polls. Otherwise intelligent and conservative-living people I know who read only NYTimes, WaPO, etc. believed the Dems lies that Republicans would take away their "health care," protection for coverage of pre-existing conditions and social security. ABC,NBC, CNN, etc. spouts lies and half-truths all day long.

19 posted on 02/12/2019 10:37:45 AM PST by Freee-dame (Best election ever! 2016)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Oldeconomybuyer

Are these the same folks who spent the last two years screaming Russia, Russia, Russia?


20 posted on 02/12/2019 10:39:37 AM PST by mac_truck (aide toi et dieu t'aidera)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-55 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson