Make no mistake, Donald Trump kicked off his campaign for 2020 on Tuesday night when he delivered the State of the Union address.

Expect "socialism" to become a very dirty word (if it isn't already).

"Here in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country," the President said, adding: "Tonight, we resolve that America will never be a socialist country".

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Huh?

Where did that come from, you may well ask?

Well, with a growing list of leftist Democrats declaring their intent to run for the presidency, a so-called migrant crisis on the border and political and economic chaos in socialist Venezuela, why not?

Some democratic policies look like socialism to the Trump base

In his remarks, Mr Trump was targeting the liberal policies of the likes of Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, and newly minted Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (who's not running for President but is an "influencer").

They're promoting:

universal healthcare

universal healthcare subsidised tertiary education

subsidised tertiary education big taxes on the rich

big taxes on the rich pro-environment initiatives in the form of a "New Green Deal" to reduce the use of fossil fuels

It's a weird thing living in America coming from a country like Australia where Medicare and heavily subsidised education are taken for granted.

To us, their policies are not quite radical. Fuel for valid political debate and prioritisation of public funds to be sure, but to suggest the United States might imminently turn into Venezuela seems like a big leap.

And it is.

Universal healthcare and subsidised education are hardly precursors to state control and the death of the American free market.

But in the post-truth era, the target audience doesn't care about the fine details.

Some Americans would be literally reaching for their guns and gathering the militia at the very suggestion that the federal government might try to interfere in their existence.

Mr Trump proved in 2016 that he's excellent at creating villains.

Remember lyin' Ted, little Marco, low-energy Jeb, Pocahontas (aka Elizabeth Warren) and all the others who were publicly belittled by then-candidate Trump as he carved a path to the White House?

Now we have the "socialists".

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Mr Trump has a counterpoint to support his argument in the form of extraordinarily good economic numbers.

The GDP is strong and the economy added 304,000 jobs in January.

Salaries are rising and interest rates appear to have stabilised. The jobs report reflected the hundredth consecutive month of job gains, so it can't be entirely claimed by the Trump administration, but the economy has been bolstered by the President's sponsored tax cuts and pro-business policies.

Again, that's all an easy backdrop to use when pointing to Venezuela, with its collapsing economy, as an example of what America does NOT want to be.

Some Americans are warming to the idea

Ms Ocasio-Cortez, who has established herself as the face of democratic socialism, is undaunted.

"I think it was great. I think he's scared," she said.

"He sees that everything is closing in on him. He knows that he's losing the battle of public opinion when it comes to the substantive proposals that we've been advancing to the public."

According to a recent poll from Gallup, Americans aged 18 to 29 years old said they backed socialism over capitalism 51 to 45 percent.

Democrats, especially, hold a positive view of socialism.

The same poll showed 57 per cent approved of socialism, while just 47 per cent said the same of capitalism. In 2010, those numbers were even higher, at 50 per cent.

In an interview with National Public Radio, Ms Ocasio-Cortez expanded her unwavering support of socialism, saying she'd leverage her nascent fame to push for progressive policies in the same way Mr Trump has used his to push against them.

"He has no other picture of America except an America with a huge wall on the southern border," she said.

"And I think that what we have a responsibility to do is show what another America looks like."

Ms Ocasio-Cortez has been unapologetic about her support for socialist policies. ( AP: Susan Walsh )

Socialism's detractors have a distinct definition of the ideology

Donald Trump's not the only one who's down on socialism.

Independent candidate and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has said he didn't donate to Elizabeth Warren's campaign when he was asked once, because it would push America towards "socialism".

But again, I think we can say that supporters and detractors are defining socialism quite differently.

On the far right, it's akin to communism, but those on the left pushing the spreading of wealth via public policy are mostly self-described social Democrats.

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Trump's speech contained dozens of campaign points

Speaking of 2020, the President's team has announced his first MAGA rally of the year will be held in El Paso, Texas, on Monday.

In his speech, the President claimed El Paso's previous crime problems were resolved by the building of the existing barrier.

"The border city of El Paso, Texas used to have extremely high rates of violent crime — one of the highest in the entire country, and considered one of our Nation's most dangerous cities," Mr Trump said.

"Now, immediately upon its building, with a powerful barrier in place, El Paso is one of the safest cities in our country."

This was quickly refuted.

An investigation by the local newspaper in El Paso revealed that the crime rate dropped before the wall was built.

El Paso leaders from both sides of the aisle were quick to speak out against the President.

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The President also flagged healthcare and prescription drug costs and infrastructure development, all issues that will attract bipartisan interest and have the potential to expand his base.

Withdrawing US troops from places like Syria and Afghanistan was also mentioned — actions that will resonate with those who support his America First stance.

And, given how much of the speech was dedicated to national security, it's safe to assume that immigration will be a central theme of the 2020 campaign.

No surprises there.

The wall has been a touchstone of the Trump brand since he first announced his intention to run in 2015.

As he squares up to a distinctly left-leaning field of Democrats, socialism, which has been described as Trump code for "the loony left", may well be the touchstone of 2020.