We need to do both I think. Being scared of the term is how the right has been able to hold so much power. We need to take back control and make it not a boogyman.

However, also, most people support leftist policy. Many don’t support leftists. Many leftist policies are actually popular among Republican voters if they’re only given a description and not told it’s leftist or socialist.

Basically, we need to use both strategically. People pushing the DSA, and other leftists groups, can normalize it, and politicians needing to win in contested elections can use the policy, without the label, to move policy forward.