The Kremlin Fanbois, er, Republicans are going long on framing the Democrats as socialists* out to destroy capitalism, and what they see as freedom (to make steal as much money as they can from the rest of us).

Axios (strage emboldening and idiosyncratic formatting is theirs):

For the first time since the midterms, Republicans find themselves playing offense as they push “socialism vs. freedom” as an opening 2020 message.

• The Green New Deal introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has become a powerful symbol of the issue that President Trump teed up in his State of the Union address when he said: “[W]e renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.”
• The liberal proposals of Democrats’ 2020 candidates, most notably Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s “wealth tax,” give Republicans more ammunition.
• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tells Fred Barnes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece about Ocasio-Cortez: “I can pretty safely say this is the first time in my political career that I thought the essence of America was being debated.”

Of course what’s funny is that Republicans have long branded us filthy, dirty hippies as commies, but the tide seems to be turning in favor of socialism.

Axios again:

• Polling shows younger Americans are souring on capitalism, and don’t find the label “socialist” so scary.
• And an Axios/SurveyMonkey poll last month found 70% of voters want the economic system reformed, with 58% saying it’s skewed toward the wealthy.
• So soaking the rich may turn out to be pretty darn popular.

Here’s the thing: given the backfire on the Billions for Billionaires Bill and the Trillion Amero Deficits, and the 2008 Miracle of Chimpy’s Economy and subsequent crash, and all the rest of the financial malfeasance that the Fourth Reich has committed, the GOP might be setting up their own trap. I know that there is a certain ossified Fox News listening demographic that looks fondly on the Cold War, but the generational shift is already here, and the Yutes of Today don’t have the reference point of breadlines in Red Square to keep them up at night.

The screwing of the millennials is driving this, and they are ascendent.

So, anyone want to wager that this GOP messaging is going to eventually backfire? I got some Quatloos.

crossposted from Mock Paper Scissors