Will socialism be an issue in an R vs. Hillary general?

[Lyin' Steve]

Republicans have used the socialism charge as a successful attack in the past.  Now that the democratic party is embracing socialism, do you think this will be a major issue they attack Hillary with in the general election?  If I were a Republican consultant I would point out that her policies match those of a declared socialist.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Unlikely. Hillary will make a few cursory statements saying that she doesn't believe socialism is the way forward, and the Republicans will look foolish trying to pursue it. Trump or Cruz might try, but Rubio would be smarter.

[IceSpear]

She explicitly defended capitalism at the debate, probably for this very reason.

[Pyro]

The Democratic Party has not embraced socialism.

[Taco Truck 🚚]

Republicans have used the socialism charge as a successful attack in the past.

When?  Haven't the Democrats won the popular vote every time for like 23 years?

[bobloblaw]

The Dem party and the left have no self control. They will push farther and farther left until they suffer an electoral defeat.

[I support Sanders]

The Democratic Party has not embraced socialism.

Seriously. I wish they'd embrace Socialism.

[NeverAgain]

The Dem party and the left have no self control. They will push farther and farther left until they suffer an electoral defeat.

The Right will push farther and farther until Ted Cruz is considered a socialist.

[bobloblaw]

The Dem party and the left have no self control. They will push farther and farther left until they suffer an electoral defeat.

The Right will push farther and farther until Ted Cruz is considered a socialist.

The Dems are farther left than the GOP is to the right.

[Rockefeller GOP]

The Democratic Party has not embraced socialism.

They hadn't embraced gay marriage until it was politically feasible to; give 'em 20 years.

[DrScholl]

The Dem party and the left have no self control. They will push farther and farther left until they suffer an electoral defeat.

The Right will push farther and farther until Ted Cruz is considered a socialist.

The Dems are farther left than the GOP is to the right.

Not at all true. Considering how Senate primaries have gone over the past few cycles, it's evident that Republicans have pushed further right.

[I support Sanders]

The Democratic Party has not embraced socialism.

They hadn't embraced gay marriage until it was politically feasible to; give 'em 20 years.

The difference is that the Democratic Party once embraced socialism; not the same for marriage equality. From FDR to Bill Clinton's first term, the Democratic Party could have been described as anything from socialist to populist. Since the GOP took over the House in 1994, and Bill Clinton embraced triangulation, the Democratic establishment has been stuck on the spectrum where Nixon was in the '70s, and where Reagan was in the '80s.

[Blue3]

She explicitly defended capitalism at the debate, probably for this very reason.

[Rockefeller GOP]

The Democratic Party has not embraced socialism.

They hadn't embraced gay marriage until it was politically feasible to; give 'em 20 years.

The difference is that the Democratic Party once embraced socialism; not the same for marriage equality. From FDR to Bill Clinton's first term, the Democratic Party could have been described as anything from socialist to populist. Since the GOP took over the House in 1994, and Bill Clinton embraced triangulation, the Democratic establishment has been stuck on the spectrum where Nixon was in the '70s, and where Reagan was in the '80s.

I get your point, but you can't actually believe the modern Democratic Party is in the same place economically as Nixon in the '70s, much less Reagan in the '80s.  People trot out little token facts like "Nixon created the EPA!" or "Reagan raised taxes!" but the fact is both were much more fiscally conservative than one random thing they did.  Go back and look at their campaign ads, what they criticized their opponents for (fiscally), etc.  They were clearly to the right of modern Dems, a group that just debated the merits of capitalism on national TV.  LOL, anyone who even questioned the merit of upward mobility on any GOP stage and any point in the party's history would be booed off the stage.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Only if R means Trump will we truly get to discuss the socialist policies we need.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

The Democratic Party has not embraced socialism.

They hadn't embraced gay marriage until it was politically feasible to; give 'em 20 years.

The difference is that the Democratic Party once embraced socialism; not the same for marriage equality. From FDR to Bill Clinton's first term, the Democratic Party could have been described as anything from socialist to populist. Since the GOP took over the House in 1994, and Bill Clinton embraced triangulation, the Democratic establishment has been stuck on the spectrum where Nixon was in the '70s, and where Reagan was in the '80s.

Lol wtf, is this a joke post? I can never tell on this board.

[King of Kensington]

People shrugged off "Obama is a socialist" in 2008 and if anything the label is less "scary" now. 

I'm sure however the Republicans will claim Hillary is "even further to the left of Obama."

[Rockefeller GOP]

People shrugged off "Obama is a socialist" in 2008 and if anything the label is less "scary" now. 

I'm sure however the Republicans will claim Hillary is "even further to the left of Obama."

She might not be ideologically, but I bet she runs to the left of where he did ... so they won't really be lying.

[I support Sanders]

The Democratic Party has not embraced socialism.

They hadn't embraced gay marriage until it was politically feasible to; give 'em 20 years.

The difference is that the Democratic Party once embraced socialism; not the same for marriage equality. From FDR to Bill Clinton's first term, the Democratic Party could have been described as anything from socialist to populist. Since the GOP took over the House in 1994, and Bill Clinton embraced triangulation, the Democratic establishment has been stuck on the spectrum where Nixon was in the '70s, and where Reagan was in the '80s.

I get your point, but you can't actually believe the modern Democratic Party is in the same place economically as Nixon in the '70s, much less Reagan in the '80s.  People trot out little token facts like "Nixon created the EPA!" or "Reagan raised taxes!" but the fact is both were much more fiscally conservative than one random thing they did.  Go back and look at their campaign ads, what they criticized their opponents for (fiscally), etc.  They were clearly to the right of modern Dems, a group that just debated the merits of capitalism on national TV.  LOL, anyone who even questioned the merit of upward mobility on any GOP stage and any point in the party's history would be booed off the stage.

Great points. I should clarify that I was referring to how they governed. Nixon was a conservative (many people say that he was the only President who could have gone to China without being accused of being a Communist, because of his conservatism), but he governed with a Democratic Congress (again, more proof of where the Democrats once stood) as did Reagan. So basically what I am saying is that the Democratic Party establishment of today, 2015, is somewhere on the spectrum between the conservatism of Nixon and Reagan and the progressive Democratic Congress. Nixon proposed a national private health insurance plan with individual mandates (identical to the Affordable Care Act) in 1971, and Democrats killed it because it didn't go far enough (they wanted Medicare for all). In the end, the inability to compromise resulted in no health care advances. Nowadays, the Democratic plan is Nixon's 1971 plan, and the GOP plan it seems is basically a return to health care in the Gilded Age.

[I support Sanders]

The Democratic Party has not embraced socialism.

They hadn't embraced gay marriage until it was politically feasible to; give 'em 20 years.

The difference is that the Democratic Party once embraced socialism; not the same for marriage equality. From FDR to Bill Clinton's first term, the Democratic Party could have been described as anything from socialist to populist. Since the GOP took over the House in 1994, and Bill Clinton embraced triangulation, the Democratic establishment has been stuck on the spectrum where Nixon was in the '70s, and where Reagan was in the '80s.

Lol wtf, is this a joke post? I can never tell on this board.

No, it's a genuine post.

[King of Kensington]

She might not be ideologically, but I bet she runs to the left of where he did ... so they won't really be lying.

"Hey when we called Obama a socialist, we didn't really mean it...but Hillary really is a socialist!"

[Ogre Mage]

I expect Republicans will throw this charge at Hillary.  They've been making this charge against Democrats for decades so why stop now?  It's red meat for their base.  But outside of their base it will only elicit eye rolling.

Clinton has seen and dealt with this line of attack for many years.  I am not concerned with her ability to handle it.