Is Obama a Socialist?

Have months of Fox News hyperventilating and right-wing fear mongering over our supposed socialist-in-chief finally paid off? A majority of voters now think President Barack Obama is a socialist, at least according to one new poll. The poll (PDF) from Democracy Corps finds that 55 percent of likely voters believe that the word "socialist" describes the president either "well" or "very well."

James: As a historian by college education I would lay good money down in a bet that 100% of those 55% don't know the definition of socialism. This is embarrassing. Have we become that uneducated as a population?

I am an actual European style Social Democrat, so I'm familiar with Socialist ideology and I'd be jumping with joy if I thought Obama was even being LIBERAL--let alone a Social Democrat of the European variety. And the European Social Democrats aren't even full blown socialists!! A social democrat is someone who believes in a small dose of Socialism mixed with a large dose of Democracy.

It rejects: taking power via revolution, dictatorship of the proletariat (think Lenin, Stalin and Mao) and total public ownership of the means of production. It accepts: Regulated private markets with minimal public ownership of some industry, a strong social safety network, (think social security, Medicare) strong environmental protections, a progressive tax system, secular control of government, fair trade, and social justice (think gay marriage). It is the kind of government you find in Scandinavia, France, Germany, Spain and Australia.

So how is that Obama is a Socialist when me, (and many other Social Democrats) think he's not one of us? Let alone a full blown socialist as many in this poll believe. A full blown socialist is in short by definition: one who believes in the political theory that believes in total public ownership and administration of industry. In order for Obama to be a socialist he'd have to make public ALL the private businesses out there in America. Is that happening? Of course not. Is it even happening in Europe? Nope. How can he be a socialist when even the actual socialists reject him? Even Tea Party favorite Ron Paul agrees that Obama isn't a socialist. I'm all for political debate but how can that even occur if we're not using the accurate definition of a Socialist? Have we learned nothing from the "Red Scare" of the '50s?? Apparently not.

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