Sanders will deliver a speech to define "democratic socialism" before the next Democratic presidenti

[riversedge]

FYI--in case this was missed. Soon we will all know..


http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/22/politics/bernie-sanders-democratic-socialism/index.html

Story highlights

Bernie Sanders will deliver a speech to define "democratic socialism" before the next Democratic presidential debate
A new poll of New Hampshire Democrats shows only 48% would accept a socialist president

Washington (CNN)Top advisers and strategists for the Bernie Sanders campaign had long tried to convince their candidate of the need to address the stigma around the words "democratic socialist."
............
But Sanders never agreed -- until now.

Sanders is preparing to give a major speech soon to define and explain what it means to be a democratic socialist. This is a speech, advisers tell CNN, he committed to only very recently, an acknowledgment that the stigma around the term could be holding him back from truly challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.

[arcane1]

1. "Only" 48%? Hell, that's better than I expected.

Feeling a bit more optimistic today!

[jkbRN]

4. Same here!

That number can only grow when he better explains it within the confines of the United States

[JaneyVee]

5. NH Democrats.

Good luck anywhere south of the Northeast corridor.

[bravenak]

2. He'd better.

I hope he doesn't yell.

[HassleCat]

3. Already defined

I thought I knew what it was, but I was confused. This person explained it to me.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=758104

[deutsey]

6. Why not go to the source

That "source" you quote isn't authoritative in the least.

Here is the site for the Democratic Socialists of America:

http://www.dsausa.org/

Better yet, find and read books on the topic.

A good one to begin with is The Long Detour.

Publishers Weekly review on Amazon.com:

Although long tainted by association with disloyalty and nutty sectarianism, socialism is actually as American as apple pie, according to this engaging apologia for the left.

Weinstein, ex-Communist, founder of Socialist Review and publisher of In These Times, argues that socialists were once a prominent and positive force in American democracy: they energized the labor movement, won elective office and proposed reforms-the eight hour day, unemployment insurance, abolition of child labor, public ownership of utilities, progressive income taxes-that became the cornerstone of Progressive, New Deal and Great Society legislation.

The left lost its way, Weinstein contends, after the Russian Revolution, when sterile debates about the Soviet Union, and Communists' subservience to Moscow, marginalized it from the American mainstream. Then, in the 1960s, the New Left squandered an opportunity to reenter mainstream politics by failing to articulate a broad social vision and embracing an outré lifestyle radicalism that alienated Middle America.

Weinstein's clear prose, free of Leninist cant, examines a forgotten but vital aspect of American political history. Some of his criticisms of the left miss the mark (his complaint that "few New Leftists thought much about a different form of society" will surprise radical feminists and Deep Ecologists); and sometimes, as with his rehash of New Left factional infighting or his insistence that Soviet tyranny was "fundamentally incompatible" with Marx's ideas, he can't resist gnawing on old sectarian bones.

Still, he makes a strong case for the importance of the left reclaiming its rightful place in American politics.

[HassleCat]

8. I was sympathetic to your viewpoint, but...

I was a member of DSA, and I checked the DSA and DSUSA websites, but I was wrong to do that. I owe a debt to the person who took the trouble to set me straight by letting me know Bernie Sanders is neither a real socialist, nor a real Democrat. The dictionary says so. It turns out he's a Social Democrat, as far as I can gather, so we (Bernie and his supporters) should all move to Norway and stop interfering with Hillary Clinton's quest for the presidency. Or something like that. I haven't quite figured it out yet.

[deutsey]

9. The dictionary?

Ok.

[HassleCat]

10. Webster's no less!

[riderinthestorm]

11. Lol, Hasslecat is being facetious I'm guessing

If you'd read through the thread s/he linked to, there were a whole lot of newly expert posters defining the term.

Quite amusing.

I'm thinking Hasslecat, who appears to actually be very comfortable with the democratic socialist term, found that pretty funny that s/he was "schooled".



Can't speak for them but that's what I believe s/he's referencing.

[msongs]

7. it means "I can't win as an independent so I need a party to appropriate" nt

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

12. Defining Socialism is like defining Government.

It's big menu and flavors differ.