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Every few election cycles, America rediscovers an old political pastime: name-calling dressed up as moral clarity. This year’s favorite epithet is "socialist."

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , D-N.Y., Sen. Bernie Sanders , I-Vt., and New York City mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani have each been branded with it, often before they finish a sentence. To their critics, the word evokes Venezuela or the Soviet Union. To their supporters, it means fairness, dignity or simply a system that finally works for ordinary people.

But when we label something an -ism , we often fail to see what’s actually resonating. Because underneath the slogans and self-descriptions, the other side is winning on the issues that matter most to pe

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