I think the socialist charge isn’t working because

1. most people don’t really know what socialism is, or what it means, and
2. because the people in the US who do know what it is, think the way things are going, they could use at least a little socialism.

I personally fall into the second category, socialized medicine works well in other countries, and it is at the heart of many of our problems.

There’s elements of socialism in some of the greatest programs this country has, and in addition, the “New Deal” to bring us out of the last depression was a very socialist movement, why would it be a mistake to move that direction? I prefer socialist programs to pure capitalist imperialism, that by all accounts, leads to governmental corruption and massive wealth disparities between the rich and poor.

Isn’t it a better world for the rich if it’s a better world for everyone? I think those that are exceptionally well-off do not agree.

It’s important to note that despite what Obama represents for many Americans, he is once again, simply the “lesser of two evils”. Sadly, nobody could make it this far without the influence of specifically Mayor Daley of Chicago’s democratic political machine, and the support of Democrats like Nancy Pelosi. I feel he’ll be very beholden to the party, and so, risk alienating the conservatives of America.

The issue at hand is trust – people give government an immense amount of money, etc. for security, and feel abused at every turn. They begin to believe that everyone must be in it for themselves, myself included, so resist giving away any more (money, power, rights, laws, beliefs, anything personal to themselves) than they absolutely need to. The culture of America has the change before the country can.

Rob