Ben Jealous isn't a socialist, but he's sure touchy about being called one

Ben Jealous sure is touchy about being called a socialist. One of his first major television interviews after he secured the Democratic nomination for governor featured a flailing exchange on CNBC in which he tried, unsuccessfully, to brush away the question. He recently used the f-word at a news conference when a reporter asked him whether he identified as a socialist. And now his campaign is demanding that Baltimore TV stations stop airing a Republican Governors Association ad branding him as one, arguing that their broadcast licenses could be at risk for airing demonstrably false information.

Before we get into the murky terrain of just what a “socialist” is, let’s get a few things straight:

First, the ad in question is blatantly misleading. It uses a clip from the CNBC interview in which Mr. Jealous says, “go ahead, call me a socialist, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m a venture capitalist,” only it omits the second half of the sentence. But politics ain’t beanbag. We’re no experts in the law surrounding standards of accuracy in independent expenditure ads, but we would be concerned about courts or federal regulatory agencies getting involved in determining what is a true or untrue in a political campaign. The boundaries of political speech in an electoral context are, and should be, broad.

Second, socialism is an economic and political philosophy. Venture capitalist is an occupation. The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, which is perhaps why Mr. Jealous’ turn of phrase has not magically caused the socialism question to disappear. It’s like saying, “I’m not a capitalist. I’m a librarian.” True, a venture capitalist’s business is in investing private funds in private enterprises with the expectation of a return, which is certainly squarely within the bounds of capitalism. But the kind of socially responsible investing Mr. Jealous engaged in vaguely jibes with some of the various definitions of socialism that set as a goal not a revolution against capitalism but a gradual evolution through support for co-ops and other more benevolent enterprises.

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