But even a "Commie" is better than "pedo protectors" and "corrupt grifters"...

[kentuck]

A "Democratic Socialist" wins a race in New York and Trump and Republicans want to brand the Democratic Party as "Communist". This is all they have and it appears they are going to use this strategy up to election day.

Never mind that it is the Republican Party that runs around their rallies with T-shirts of Putin stamped on them. Never mind that it is Donald Trump that is "best buds" with the communists and dictators around the world.

Their strategy is clear. Try to brand the Democrats as "Communist". They are running from their own records. Democrats should have a response.

[rampartd]

1. they got the entirely wrong message from cold war propaganda

what we hated about the soviets was the secret police and the gulags, the surveillance and the cult of personality..

nobody cares what some 19th century economist said about who should own the "means of production."

[gab13by13]

4. Republicans are way closer to communists than Democrats are.

[rampartd]

5. trump has reached totalitarian levels like "nobody has ever seen"

and i'm certain that , to them, commies and woke and terrorist and dei whatever are all the very same boogie man.

[gab13by13]

6. Krasnov is trying to pick winners and losers

he has given the house away to the fossil fuel industry with subsidies and federal land and water to drill on, while spending millions of taxpayer dollars to abolish clean energy projects.

[Efilroft Sul]

2. Better off red than a ped.

[kentuck]

8. "Better Red Than A Ped"

I like it!

[gab13by13]

3. Screw the labels

I regularly wrote letters to the editor of my local Magat newspaper. The editor called me his "commie pinko buddy." I didn't give a shit what he called me I kept refuting the nonsense that the Magats wrote letters were spewing. There were only 3 or 4 Democrats who had the guts to write letters and the usual way we were attacked was by name calling.

I eventually walked into the newspaper office and told the editor I was not renewing my subscription to his paper because he would edit my letters, even change the headline of my article to suit him.

All they have is name calling and putting labels on people, it's the actions the people are taking that matters.

FDR was and still is called every name in the book by Magats, So What?

I support Democrats.

I tried to point out the danger of pitting moderate Dems v progressive Dems but my voice was silenced.

Stop putting purity tests on Democrats, stop saying a progressive can't win here, or a moderate can't win here, or a progressive can only win in a deep blue district. People who are doing this are the problem.

My purity test for nominees is the best fighter.

Silence me again for speaking the truth. Let the people decide who they want to represent them.

[QueerDuck]

7. I completely agree that the GOP's "Communist" branding is absurd and hypocritical, given their own embrace of dictators.

But leaning into the "Socialist" label to form a defense is exactly the trap they want us to fall into. It is a massive strategic disadvantage. In national politics, if you’re spending your time explaining, redefining, and responding to the other side's framing, you're already losing.

The voters who decide national elections (suburban moderates and independents) aren't looking for a classroom lecture on economic theory. Instead of feeding their fear-mongering flames with time-wasting and distracting explanations, the best response is to completely pivot. We shouldn't let them dictate the battlefield.

We win by talking directly about mainstream, popular kitchen-table results (like lowering healthcare costs and protecting social security) not by embracing labels that alienate the very moderate and independent voters we need to win.

[Redleg]

9. I like your points

Labels are for slogans and bumper stickers and dark campaign ads. They appeal to the emotions, mainly fear and anger. I don't know why Dems can't run on the notion of creating an economy that works for regular working people instead of for the wealthy.