White House hopeful embraces a dirty word in U.S. politics - 'socialist'

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders greets supporters at a campaign rally outside the New Hampshire State House in Concord, New Hampshire November 5, 2015. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - "Socialist" has long been a dirty word in American politics, a slur thrown at liberals that evokes Cold War-era images of bread lines, government-controlled economies and authoritarian regimes.

But 2016 Democratic White House hopeful Bernie Sanders has not shied away from describing himself as a democratic socialist. In fact, his platform of eradicating income inequality and curbing corporate power is attracting large crowds of liberal activists.