Republican Campaigns Used Socialism as a “Wedge Issue” in 2019; So Did Conservative Media

Introduction

The term “socialism” has made a comeback in United States political media, framed in 2019 reporting both as a sunny alternative to political dysfunction and a spectre of dystopian fear.

So what is socialism, really? It depends who you ask.

Coverage of socialism reflects the polarization that has come to define U.S. political discourse. Progressive media coverage of democratic socialism, for example, posits socialism as a legitimate ideology, one that is claimed by leading politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY):

“Today in the second decade of the 21st century, we must take up the unfinished business of the New Deal and carry it to completion. ..We must recognize that in the 21st century, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, economic rights are human rights. That is what I mean by democratic socialism” - Senator Sanders, June 2019.

Conservative media sources on the other hand cast socialism in stark terms, as an existential threat to American sovereignty. This narrative is echoed by leading conservative politicians, ranging from the Republican National Committee to President Trump:

“Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country.... Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country” - President Trump, February 2019.

Conservative Media Covers "Socialism" More than Progressive Media

Perhaps it is unsurprising that progressive and conservative sources view socialism differently; political polarization is a defining feature of 21st century American Politics. Yet the degree to which coverage of the term diverges between progressive and conservative media sources is striking nonetheless.

Qualitatively, progressive and conservative media report on socialism differentially. And when comparing the rate of socialism coverage compared to all coverage between progressive and conservative media sources in 2019, an interesting trend emerges: Conservative media sources reported significantly more frequently on the topic than progressive media sources did.

The rate at which Conservative media sources covered socialism diverges from total media coverage, peaking with politically significant events like President Trump’s condemnation of domestic socialism in his February State of the Union address and the European Union elections in late May. Overall, conservative sources reported accounted for over sixty percent of socialism coverage.

This Trend Was Particularly Pronounced in Coverage of Republican Campaign “Wedge Issues”

The conservative media focus on socialism was particularly pronounced in coverage of topics perceived as “wedge issues” by Republican political campaigns in 2019. This political messaging strategy is designed to create a word association in the minds of voters between Democratic candidates and a fear-inducing framing of socialism. Such tactics are historically common among political campaigns. Conservative media coverage may be amplifying this word association effect.

Coverage Associating Socialism and the Democratic Party

This trend appears to reflect the Trump Campaign messaging strategy to associate the Democratic party with socialism. This tactic was evident in 2019 as early as the President’s 2019 State of The Union address, and continued throughout the year. Famously, the Trump Campaign even placed anti-socialism messaging in advertisements at Democrat’s debate sites throughout the leadup to the primaries in 2020, a winning strategy for steering conservative media coverage.

In total, conservative media published more than seven times as many stories that include the words “socialist” and “democrat” within 15 words of each other.

Sources: D3, Media Cloud

Coverage Associating Socialism the Green New Deal

Coverage of the Green New Deal exhibited the same pattern. Conservative media published more than twice as many stories that included the terms “socialism” or “socialist” and “green new deal” in 2019. The trend is pronounced in February and April, after Senator Edward Markey and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez released a fourteen-page resolution for their Green New Deal on February 7, 2019.

Sources: D3, Media Cloud

A similar fear-orientation is observable in stories published during this period, both by the President Trump and in conservative media coverage. Qualitatively, conservative media coverage appeared to lean on apocalyptic messaging to associate the policy with a fearful conception of socialism, as is evident in this story from Breitbart that employs Orwellian language to do so:

Source: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/02/08/hayward-bernie-sanders-green-new-deal-slavery-freedom/

Coverage Associating Socialism and The Squad

Our research found that this trend was also present in conservative media coverage of “the squad”, three Democratic Congresswomen, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib. The absolute number of stories that include either the congresswomens’ names or “the squad” and “socialism” or “socialist” was the highest observed in our study. Nearly 20,000 such stories were published by conservative media sources in 2019, over four times as many as were published by progressive media sources.

Sources: D3, Media Cloud

Conservative media sources use of the squad and socialism to associate fear with the Democratic party is perhaps the most clearly observable link between media and political agendas. In 2019, a Republican in Alabama used the association as a campaign message, and Fox News to create a on Fox and Friends echoing the message to their audience.

Source: https://video.foxnews.com/v/6096746156001#sp=show-clips

Coverage Associating Socialism and Medicare for All

Interestingly, disproportionate conservative media coverage featuring of political issues and terms like “socialist” was not evident in issues that were not the focus of Republican political campaigns. A search for “medicare for all” and “socialism” or “socialist”, for example, did not yield as distinct a difference in the rates of coverage between progressive and conservative sources as did “wedge issues”.

Sources: D3, Media Cloud

Conclusion

This study was limited in scope; it was produced in a week for a class project. Thus, it’s results alone do not establish a causal relationship between conservative media coverage and Republican political strategy on 2019 wedge issues. Yet the trends from our initial research are clear: the apparent relationship between the Republican party and the Fourth Estate begs further research.