if people were already principled socialists we would have no work to do.

if you want to raise money for real work and you decide to have a socialist bake sale with socialist in the name it does not matter how educated the public is, it matters whether they're positive on the word or not. you'd do much better with one of those now in the US than you would at any time 10+ years ago until you go back far enough to the Panthers being active and better among white people until you go back before McCarthyism.

it's the job of (some) orgs to educate people and it's good if more of them are willing to come in the door or hear you out in the first place.

the downside of john q. public not knowing the difference is that bernie or "national-socialists" can co-opt the sentiment as well.

healthcare pls socialists aren't all going to show up and do the work but they're much more amenable to us than clintonite single-payer types were in the 1990s.