“My opponent calls me ‘woke’ but he never says what that means. I wonder why he wants our eyes closed, and what he wants them closed to. I wonder what he’s afraid we’ll see if we look around. Well my eyes are wide open and I’m fully awake. I say the time for us to be fooled by rich thieves is over.”

“Yes, unlike my opponents I am a big believer in diversity, equity, and inclusion. These are ideals that represent our nation’s best aspirations for itself. This is a nation for all people, not a playground for bigots and billionaires. My opponents should explain why they hate these values.”

“I love being a socialist. I like things that are built to help people instead of to make a buck. I like libraries, they like book burning. I like affordable transportation. I like airports to have safety workers. I like cancer research. I like rockets that don’t explode.”

“‘Socialist’ is a word billionaires like to use so you won’t notice their hand in your pocket.”

“My opponent calls me a socialist because he’s an antisocialist. Society exists and it’s worth fighting for. I’ll fight any boss who wants to steal it from you.”

It’s not hard to do. It differentiates.

For fuck’s sake the Republicans have positioned themselves as the party of bosses and layoffs, two things everyone knows and hates. Be the anti-boss party.

You want to be relatable to everyday voters? When they say “socialist” you say “they’re running to fire you. I’m running to fire your boss.”

Why does that matter, you ask? Well, as @jpitney.bsky.social pointed out, IDEA is not a civil rights law. The "strings" (IE, the requirements for states to receive the money) are the only way to enforce the law. No strings, no guaranteed protections.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...