DEMS/ELECTION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump showed in his State of the Union address Tuesday [2-5-19] night that he plans to run for re-election by attacking socialism – including going after figures popular with the fired-up Democratic base like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders. After Trump warned about ‘new calls to adopt socialism in our country,’ Republicans circulated photos of Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders and other stone-faced lawmakers who ‘refused to stand’ during parts of the speech…Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez – who both call themselves ‘Democratic socialists’ – fought back. They accused Trump of putting a scary label on positions that are publicly popular, such as guaranteed health care. Polls show they are both right and wrong about that. The popularity of Medicare for all, for example, soars when people hear it would guarantee health insurance as a right. But views were more negative than positive in a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll if respondents thought Medicare for all would eliminate private health insurance companies or would require most Americans to pay more in taxes.”
–Maureen Groppe, “Trump looks to pin ‘socialism’ label on Democrats ahead of 2020. Will it stick?,” USA Today, February 7, 2019 5:54 pm