In the 2020 election, Republicans enjoyed substantial success in their efforts to demonize Democrats by labeling many as socialists and assailing those seeking to revamp or defund local police departments.

The campaign was helped by the prominence of such party activists as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — both self-styled democratic socialists — and the failure of its more centrist leaders like presidential nominee Joe Biden to mount an effective counterattack.

Now, as Biden and the Democrats face an uphill battle to retain their congressional majorities in November’s midterm elections, they have turned to a similar strategy, seeking to tar all Republicans as Donald Trump’s extreme acolytes.

Biden set the tone last week when, using the acronym for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, he attacked “this MAGA crowd” as “really the most extreme political organization that's existed in American history, in recent American history."

While there might be some hyperbole in Biden’s comments, two recent developments provide Democrats with ammunition. One is the likely embrace by most Republicans of the impending Supreme Court decision banning all abortions; another is the sweeping policy by Florida Sen. Rick Scott, chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

In attacking Scott’s agenda, Biden singled out the Florida Republican’s proposal that all Americans “pay some income tax” as a prospective burden that would cost middle-class Americans nearly $1,500 a year. He said Scott’s plan to terminate all federal programs in five years would undercut seniors’ reliance on Social Security and Medicare.

Though Biden continued that line of attack this week, many other Democrats zeroed in on another GOP position, their support of the Supreme Court’s impending decision on a Mississippi abortion case.

Democrats hope it will spur a massive turnout of women voters like Trump’s election did in 2018.

The reaction of top Democrats and Republicans showed the decision’s potential political impact.

Until now, most polling has shown the Democrats in severe midterm trouble, due to Biden’s low job approval and his administration’s difficulties in curbing inflation and stemming illegal immigration. A CNN poll, while showing that the potential Supreme Court decision spurred Democratic enthusiasm, also showed registered voters favor Republicans in the election.

If nothing else, Scott’s memo and the impending abortion decision provide Biden and the Democrats with ammunition to counter GOP attacks on their record.

After all, in politics, as in sports, the best defense is often a good offense.

———

Carl P. Leubsdorf is the former Washington bureau chief of the Dallas Morning News.