“I would make a proposition to my Republican friends… that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.” ― Adlai Stevenson
“The Socialists are coming“
Republicans are facing a bleak legislative future. Polls consistently show that Trump’s MAGA policies, the ones rubber-stamped by an obeisant GOP legislature, are anathema to the majority of Americans. Because they can’t run on their record, their strategy is to paint all Democrats as socialists.
There are two flaws to this approach. Not all Democrats are socialists – in fact, strictly speaking, very few are. And the ‘socialism’ slur is losing its electoral power.
Trump, a man who desperately needs to deflect from the damage caused by his ill-conceived foreign adventurism, his inflationary tariffs, and his amateurish beautification projects, is leading the campaign to slime Democrats as un-American lefties. Although in keeping with his life philosophy that too much is not enough, he has shed ‘socialist’ for the even more provocative “communist”.
On Friday evening alone, he twice posted the barb. In one missive to his masses, he promised he would make an important statement concerning the “recent Election of Communists in our Country.” In another, he wrote, “The Communists are finally making their move. I’ve been waiting and preparing for this for a long time.”
Trump doesn’t specify which election. And someone unfamiliar with MAGA’s bastardization of political language would be confused. No communist has been elected. He can only be referring to the success of further-left big-city candidates. In particular, the three US House Democratic primary winners in New York who were endorsed by the self-described Democratic Socialist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani. However, Darializa Avila Chevalier, Claire Valdez, and Brad Lander (who quit the Democratic Socialists) did not run on a platform of nationalizing American businesses. A fundamental step in creating a communist state.
A history of playing to paranoia
America’s right painting America’s left as fellow travelers with the Soviets has been a thing since Senator Joseph McCarthy warned of communists in the State Department and the military. For a while, the people thought he was on to something. But when the dipsomaniac ex-tail gunner offered no substance to support his speculation, his momentum slowed. Then his fellow Senators censured him. And he faded from relevance to an alcoholic’s early grave.
At the same time, a young Richard Nixon was more successful in his smear campaign. He won his 1950 Senate race against Democrat Helen Gahagan Douglas after he dubbed her the “Pink Lady” because of her supposed links with the Communist Party. And in a slur that added sexism to his rhetoric, he added that she “is pink right down to her underwear.”
Capitalism as a dirty word
Today, Republicans, a party legend for its reverence for a fictitious 50s, are trying more of the same. But times have changed. Capitalism was once seen as the catalyst of the American Dream. It is no longer so universally favored – particularly among younger voters.
A Gallup poll shows that 54% of Americans still view capitalism positively. On the other hand, 39% approve of socialism. The gap in favorability is now 15%. In 2010, the same Gallup survey had the gap at 25% (61% vs. 36%)
Anti-capitalist, or more accurately, regulated market politicians have another trend in their favor. In 2026, only 37% of Americans approve of “big business.” It is unclear how you can approve of capitalism without liking big business. But it points to a line of attack that will find favor with voters who don’t approve of socialism. Democratic politicians can run against the unfettered capitalism of big business in bed with politicians. And point out that one team (the plutocrats) has bribed the referees to fix the game.
Democratic Socialists are to socialism what lightning bugs are to lightning
Which brings us to the fact that, despite the name, Democratic Socialists aren’t socialists, despite the right’s casual use of the word. Socialism requires a central government to own the factories and other means of production. And for all their radical talk, Mamdani and like-minded politicians are not running on a platform of industrial nationalization.
Paradoxically, one proof that Democratic Socialists aren’t Socialists is that they favor higher taxes. Taxes are a feature of a market economy. In a socialist system, there are no taxes because the government is funded by revenue from its ownership of the means of production, minus wages paid to workers and other expenses.
Democrats come in many flavors
As for the Republican claim that the Democratic Party is lurching leftward, where’s the proof? Their theory of the case rests in part on the results of three congressional primary elections in New York City. However, in November 2025, right across the Hudson River, New Jersey voters elected Mikie Sherrill as Governor. She is neither a socialist nor a Democratic Socialist.
The former Representative was a member of the New Democratic Coalition in Congress – a centrist, pro-business group. And meeting her closer to the middle is Abigail Spanberger, the newly minted Governor of Virginia. She characterized herself as a moderate. Called herself a “passionate pragmatist” and was rated the fifth most bipartisan member of Congress when she was a Representative.
Meanwhile, down in Texas, Democrat James Talarico is running a close race against Republican Ken Paxton. And far from being a godless pinko, he is a man of profound, if liberal, faith. In addition, if Talarico had any socialist stain, Paxton would have pointed it out. He hasn’t. Instead, Ken has smeared James with the lies that he is a “vegan” and “trans.”
How Democrats win
America is a country of 340 million whose political beliefs run the spectrum. Successful Democratic candidates will run on platforms that appeal to their constituents. There is no one-size-fits-all. Democratic Socialism was the ticket to success in NYC. It would not do so well in Texas. It’s no wonder that desperate Republicans are trying to portray the whole party as moving left.
Republicans are trying to win the 2026 midterms by lying about Democrats. To win, Democrats will have to accept that their candidates are not from one mold. And, instead of litmus tests for their own, they should simply tell the truth about Republicans.