Socialism and its ugly stepbrother communism have mostly been held in high regard by the intelligencia. That group, to paraphrase George Orwell, was the only group that could look at Stalin and say only a brilliant person could act like that.
Socialism and communism both seem good from a theoretical viewpoint, for those who have to live under these forms it is something entirely different.
America has enough good common people who are far from ready to give in or up. The country is just starting to sort itself out. The coming recession will wash away a lot of dreams and present ideas as reality clears things up and people get real again. That should be enough to undo a lot of false or crazy ideas.
Really bites and kicks no matter what one says or does.