Socialism: There’s nothing that Republicans want to talk about more, considering their down-ballot performance this cycle. There’s nothing that a few prominent Democrats want to talk about more, either, in their eagerness to present a vision that looks like Canada or Scandinavia. Yet, for other Democrats, there’s nothing that they’d rather talk about less.

The election post-mortem has become the effort of candidates and political wonks alike. A number of Democrats have acknowledged, quite forcefully and regretfully, that the “s” word hurt them. “I’m not a f—ing socialist,” Jason Pizzo, a Democratic state senator in Florida, told Politico in an interview. “My life is a manifestation of the American dream. I believe in free markets.”