|
 But 2016 Democratic White House hopeful Bernie Sanders has not
shied away from describing himself as a democratic socialist. In
fact, his platform of eradicating income inequality and curbing
corporate power is attracting large crowds of liberal activists.
The question though is whether the independent Vermont senator can
persuade a broader swath of Democrats to accept his version of
socialism, a term he acknowledges makes many people "very, very
nervous."
In the next few weeks, Sanders, who is trailing Democratic
front-runner Hillary Clinton in polls, will try to take the sting
out of the label with a speech aimed at explaining his democratic
socialist views.
Selling the "socialist" tag remains a steep hurdle for a
presidential candidate in the United States, where polls indicate it
is still a negative for many voters and would be a major hindrance
in a general election campaign.
"Socialism is what makes him different. That one word makes him
appealing to the party's left wing," Democratic strategist Dane
Strother said.
"It won't be a problem in the Democratic primary," he said, although
if Sanders pulls off a political miracle and wins the nomination "it
would be a tougher sell in a general election."
Sanders-style democratic socialism is a far cry from the classic
Soviet-style system featuring government ownership of private
industry. He compares it to mostly capitalist economies in western
Europe such as Denmark and Norway, which feature more regulation and
a broader social safety net than the United States.
Sanders pushes plans such as free college tuition, single-payer
healthcare, higher minimum wages, better retirement benefits and
jobs programs to rebuild the national infrastructure - all liberal
versions of a populist Democratic agenda.
For Sanders, democratic socialism would create a more fair and
equitable society and tilt an economic playing field that he says
favors the wealthy back to benefiting primarily the lower and middle
classes.
A GOVERNMENT FOR ALL
"To me, democratic socialism means democracy. It means creating a
government that represents all of us, not just the wealthiest people
in the country," Sanders said last month.
Sanders says Americans misunderstand the socialist label and do not
recognize its principles in popular federal programs such as Social
Security or even local institutions such as public libraries and
fire departments.
But to old-school socialist activists like Greg Pason, national
secretary of the Socialist Party USA, Sanders is no crusader for the
cause. Pason said Sanders sounds more like a liberal Democrat and he
suspects most of his supporters in the Democratic race will
eventually back Clinton.
He said it has been refreshing, however, to hear public debates
about socialism. He has heard the word bandied about by his
neighbors in New Jersey and strangers at a bus stop.
Sanders has avoided a barrage of political attacks over the label
primarily because Republicans, who have described Democratic
President Barack Obama for years as a "socialist," have not taken
him seriously as a general election threat.
[to top of second column] |
Still, some have raised the issue. Republican presidential candidate
Lindsey Graham joked in a recent debate that Sanders had honeymooned
in the Soviet Union "and I don't think he ever came back," and
Republican front-runner Donald Trump called Sanders "a socialist
slash communist, because that's what he is."
Opinion polls show socialism is still a broadly unpopular label in
the United States, but they also show a generational change in
attitudes as young people who did not live through the Cold War are
far less likely to be scared of the tag.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Friday found that 47 percent of
Americans were somewhat or much less likely to support a candidate
for president who was a socialist, while 37 percent said it would
not matter.
A GENERATIONAL DIVIDE
A Gallup poll this summer showed 69 percent of Americans between
ages 18-29 would have no problem putting a socialist in the White
House, compared to just 34 percent of those above the age of 65.
"For people who came of age politically before 1989, the word
socialism is associated with the Soviet Union or Mao's China, and
that doesn't sound like a very good thing," said Samuel Goldman, a
political scientist at George Washington University.
"For younger people, socialism tends to be associated with Sweden
and Norway and Denmark, and those are much more appealing societies
than the Soviet Union," he said.
Roland Racevskis, a Sanders supporter in Iowa City, Iowa, said
Sanders' embrace of the socialist tag had helped endear him to
liberal backers who see him as a different kind of U.S. politician.
"It's an indication of his authenticity that he doesn't shrink from
the term," said Racevskis, a French professor at the University of
Iowa.
"I think he can change people's views of socialism, but I'm not so
starry-eyed to think it will be easy or he won't be attacked for
it," he said.
(Editing by Paul Thomasch and Ross Colvin)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
