Republicans Reveal Their Campaign Strategy For 2020

The Republicans have now made it clear how they are going to campaign in 2020. They are going to try to label the Democratic Party as a party of socialists. The banner above is from a new Republican website (socialistshowdown.com).

They want to make Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar the face of the Democratic Party. Note that they picture these Democrats alongside Vladimir Lenin and Fidel Castro. They know that the word "socialist" scares many Americans, and they will try to equate it with communism.

I don't think this strategy will work on most Democrats running for president or Congress -- not even the very progressive candidates like Elizabeth Warren (who has made it clear she's a capitalist who believes in restricting the power of corporations and making the economy fair for everyone).

But it could work if the Democrats nominate Bernie Sanders. Sanders has proudly declared himself to be a socialist for many years -- and the Republicans will use his own words against him.

Voters are unhappy with the right-wing extremism of the Republicans. The Republicans know this, and they want to make the election into a choice of two extremes. They're betting the voters will choose them if that happens, and they could be right.

Voters want a return to normalcy. Democrats would be making a serious mistake by nominating a known socialist like Sanders. It would be playing right into the GOP's hands.

This does not mean we cannot nominate a progressive or campaign on progressive principles. They just need to be promoted as solutions to individual problems -- not a left-wing revolution.