Why is the GOP so fixated with Socialism?

[DevotedDemocrat]

It's not 1960 or even 1990 anymore; Communism and Socialism are all but dead ideologies, and no major country is truly Marxist anymore (China is in theory, but corporatist in practice). The Cold War has been over since 1991; the USSR is long dead, Fidel Castro is retired and Hugo Chavez is deceased....And yet the GOP's rallying cry against Obama and the Democrats for five years has been 'Socialist!' And 'Communist' as if it was still 1954. Some of the attacks, especially by pundits such as Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity are reminiscint of Joe McCarthy. My question is, why does the GOP still view Marxism as the big monster under the bed even though it's clearly no longer a threat?

[Cory]

It's not that Republican elites actually see it that way, it's that it is a useful boogeyman to move the goalpost. If anything left-of-center is "full blown communist" then there is no room for compromise. It's part of the apocalyptic mindset in swaths of the GOP base.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

1. Socialism is not dead.

2. Because it's a buzzword that riles up their base. None of the elites actually think Obama is substantially to their left.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

1. Socialism is not dead.

And the votes show it! (Unless the silent Socialist majority claims Obama among their ranks)

Jill Stein-Cheri Honkala-Green-469,016-0.36%
Roseanne Barr-Cindy Sheehan-Peace & Freedom-67,450-0.05%
Ross C. 'Rocky' Anderson-Luis J. Rodriguez-Justice-43,106-0.03%
Peta Lindsay-Yari Osorio-Socialism and Liberation-9,403-0.01%
Stewart Alexander-Alex Mendoza-Socialist-4,430-0.00%
James Harris-Maura DeLuca-Socialist Workers-4,117-0.00%
Jerry White-Phyllis Scherrer-Socialist Equality-1,279-0.00%

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

1. Socialism is not dead.

And the votes show it! (Unless the silent Socialist majority claims Obama among their ranks)

Jill Stein-Cheri Honkala-Green-469,016-0.36%
Roseanne Barr-Cindy Sheehan-Peace & Freedom-67,450-0.05%
Ross C. 'Rocky' Anderson-Luis J. Rodriguez-Justice-43,106-0.03%
Peta Lindsay-Yari Osorio-Socialism and Liberation-9,403-0.01%
Stewart Alexander-Alex Mendoza-Socialist-4,430-0.00%
James Harris-Maura DeLuca-Socialist Workers-4,117-0.00%
Jerry White-Phyllis Scherrer-Socialist Equality-1,279-0.00%

I didn't mean in America, silly. Also note that a Trotskyist was elected to Seattle City Council and another one nearly won a Minneapolis seat.

[Cassius]

1. Socialism is not dead.

And the votes show it! (Unless the silent Socialist majority claims Obama among their ranks)

Jill Stein-Cheri Honkala-Green-469,016-0.36%
Roseanne Barr-Cindy Sheehan-Peace & Freedom-67,450-0.05%
Ross C. 'Rocky' Anderson-Luis J. Rodriguez-Justice-43,106-0.03%
Peta Lindsay-Yari Osorio-Socialism and Liberation-9,403-0.01%
Stewart Alexander-Alex Mendoza-Socialist-4,430-0.00%
James Harris-Maura DeLuca-Socialist Workers-4,117-0.00%
Jerry White-Phyllis Scherrer-Socialist Equality-1,279-0.00%

I didn't mean in America, silly. Also note that a Trotskyist was elected to Seattle City Council and another one nearly won a Minneapolis seat.

Well, workers control of industry, as an idea, is effectively a defunct duck, generally speaking, across the western world so...

[Mr. Illini]

Fear.

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

The Cold War ended *only* 22 years ago, a lot of people over 35 have been so heavily influenced by it they're still in the mindset.

The GOP, being the party of olds and war hawks, exploits this in an attempt to gain votes. But the usefulness of the ploy diminishes with each passing year, so it is becoming less effective.

[Donerail]

1. Socialism is not dead.

And the votes show it! (Unless the silent Socialist majority claims Obama among their ranks)

Jill Stein-Cheri Honkala-Green-469,016-0.36%
Roseanne Barr-Cindy Sheehan-Peace & Freedom-67,450-0.05%
Ross C. 'Rocky' Anderson-Luis J. Rodriguez-Justice-43,106-0.03%
Peta Lindsay-Yari Osorio-Socialism and Liberation-9,403-0.01%
Stewart Alexander-Alex Mendoza-Socialist-4,430-0.00%
James Harris-Maura DeLuca-Socialist Workers-4,117-0.00%
Jerry White-Phyllis Scherrer-Socialist Equality-1,279-0.00%

I didn't mean in America, silly. Also note that a Trotskyist was elected to Seattle City Council and another one nearly won a Minneapolis seat.

"A Trotskyist almost won a seat on the city council in America's 47th largest city. Socialism is alive!"

[DC Al Fine]

In part because it helps maintain unity. Wall St. & the Bible Belt disagree on a lot of things, but communism isn't one of them.

[bullmoose88]

In part because it helps maintain unity. Wall St. & the Bible Belt disagree on a lot of things, but communism isn't one of them.

Winner winner chicken dinner.

[Zioneer]

Because screaming about something that doesn't exist as a coherent force in America is easier than actually moderating or governing.

[retromike22]

Because screaming about something that doesn't exist as a coherent force in America is easier than actually moderating or governing.

That is the best answer by far.

[Indy Texas]

The GOP itself is not fixated with socialism. Its drooling, useful idiots, however, are fixated on an ethereal, ideological entity that somehow manages to roll Marxism-Leninism, Maoism, fascism, the Black Power Movement and fundamentalist Islamism into one big thing called "Socialism" that they claim Barack Hussein Obama is trying to impose on America.

There's also the fact that the Right really hasn't made any substantive, positive accomplishments since the Cold War ended. Taxes have already been cut. Industry has already been deregulated. Most of the market-friendly social programs that they proposed in the '70s and '80s ended up being implemented by the Democrats, who arguably did a better job of doing so. They're essentially out of ideas at this point. So they pretend it's still 1979 and we're a country struggling with runaway inflation, confiscatory taxation and the Red Menace around every corner.

[CountryClassSF]

Bernie Sanders calls himself a socialist.  Him and Obama's viewpoints are probably less than a centimeter apart.

[MSG]

Republicans have been using fearmongering about foreign policy to attack the domestic policies of the democrats since, at the latest, the 1950 election. Nixon got his start as red baiter like McCarthy. If you want to understand how this came about Athan Theorias' (sp) Yalta Myths is an interesting read about how the Repbulicans used myths and misinformation to scare voters away from New and Fair deal legislation throughout the 1950s. He's a liberal hack in some ways but the research related in the book is irrefutable. The main figure behind the move to use foreign policy as guise to attack Democratic domestic policies started with Robert Taft Jr. If you desire to look into the origins of this Robert Dirilek's A Loyal Opposition details the inner workings of the repbulican party during WWII as they tried to regain political power. The author is quite sympathetic to the republican party, yet the title starts to take on a sense of irony by the time you get to the Mackinac Conference in the spring of 1944. My favorite acedonote from the book is the story of Lord Halifax Republican reception dinner when he was named ambassador to the US. One republican congressmen told him point blank that he and many others in this room thought FDR was far more dangerous to America than Mussolini and Hitler. It so alarmed Halifax he reported the conversation to either Welles or Hull (can't remember which).

But honestly you could go back to the 1880s to find Republican officials using red scares and comparing democrats to socialists and "radicals reds." Carter Harrison's (mayor of Chicago) public statement about the Haymarket riot reads like a diatribe by hannity during the campaign. Its available through the Haymarket Historical Foudnation's website, if interested.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Because the word "Socialism" is scary enough due to its past historical negative implications, yet misunderstood enough that the leaders of the Crazy Town movement can use it as their buzz word without their followers being actually educated enough to realize that their being blatantly lied to and misled.

[Sol]

1. Socialism is not dead.

And the votes show it! (Unless the silent Socialist majority claims Obama among their ranks)

Jill Stein-Cheri Honkala-Green-469,016-0.36%
Roseanne Barr-Cindy Sheehan-Peace & Freedom-67,450-0.05%
Ross C. 'Rocky' Anderson-Luis J. Rodriguez-Justice-43,106-0.03%
Peta Lindsay-Yari Osorio-Socialism and Liberation-9,403-0.01%
Stewart Alexander-Alex Mendoza-Socialist-4,430-0.00%
James Harris-Maura DeLuca-Socialist Workers-4,117-0.00%
Jerry White-Phyllis Scherrer-Socialist Equality-1,279-0.00%

I didn't mean in America, silly. Also note that a Trotskyist was elected to Seattle City Council and another one nearly won a Minneapolis seat.

"A Trotskyist almost won a seat on the city council in America's 47th largest city. Socialism is alive!"

To be fair, metro Minneapolis is substantially bigger than the city- it's around 16th largest in the US.

[CountryClassSF]

There's maybe less than 2% difference between Bernie Sanders and  Obama if you go down the list of issue by issue. 

Take a look at the Occupy movement and the left's growing trash talking of "corporations." It's very troubling.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

There's maybe less than 2% difference between Bernie Sanders and  Obama if you go down the list of issue by issue. 

Take a look at the Occupy movement and the left's growing trash talking of "corporations." It's very troubling.

Sanders disagrees with Obama on trade policy, healthcare, and the 2010 debt limit bill to name a few things.  Those are pretty big differences that account for more than a 2% difference.

[Zioneer]

There's maybe less than 2% difference between Bernie Sanders and  Obama if you go down the list of issue by issue. 

Take a look at the Occupy movement and the left's growing trash talking of "corporations." It's very troubling.

I would say that the wealthy class trashing the poor is much more troubling.

[CountryClassSF]

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Well, on health care, I'm fairly certain Obama would have done single payer if it were politically feasible. Reid admitted as such...

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

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Well, on health care, I'm fairly certain Obama would have done single payer if it were politically feasible. Reid admitted as such...

Phrases such as "fairly certain" and "if" aren't exactly convincing.  I'd like to see you quantitatively back up the less than 2% claim.

[CountryClassSF]

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Well, on health care, I'm fairly certain Obama would have done single payer if it were politically feasible. Reid admitted as such...

Phrases such as "fairly certain" and "if" aren't exactly convincing.  I'd like to see you quantitatively back up the less than 2% claim.

http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/voteratings/

Obama himself before he was annointed by Dem Superdelegates and caucus goers to the WH, had the #1 liberal record in the Senate, only overtaken by Sanders afterwards. Their views couldn't be more similar.

Sanders has the luxury of running in a state that's political demographics are pretty much like San Francisco's. Obama's got the whole country and the wider electorate to worry about.

You didn't see where Harry Reid said they wanted to do single payer?

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Well, on health care, I'm fairly certain Obama would have done single payer if it were politically feasible. Reid admitted as such...

Phrases such as "fairly certain" and "if" aren't exactly convincing.  I'd like to see you quantitatively back up the less than 2% claim.

http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/voteratings/

Obama himself before he was annointed by Dem Superdelegates and caucus goers to the WH, had the #1 liberal record in the Senate, only overtaken by Sanders afterwards. Their views couldn't be more similar.

Sanders has the luxury of running in a state that's political demographics are pretty much like San Francisco's. Obama's got the whole country and the wider electorate to worry about.

You didn't see where Harry Reid said they wanted to do single payer?

Interesting that you left out the fact that in the two years before he was ranked #1, he was ranked #16 and #10.  As for single payer, there are a whole host of varieties of single payer systems; two people supporting single payer could have a broad range of what they actually want done.