For decades, Republicans have monopolized and marketed the f-word – freedom.

Ever since Ronald Reagan, the f-word has been central to their brand, a handy way to trumpet their support for “small government.” Their enemy was “big government” – in their view, the meddling feds in Washington who regulate the private sector and thus curb the freedoms of the private sector. One of their most vocal congressional groups is called the House Freedom Caucus, and a longtime activist group was called FreedomWorks.

But Democrats have made inroads thanks to the blue party’s relentlessly laudable efforts to seize the f-word and reframe its meaning. With Donald Trump’s takeover of the GOP – notably, his success in crafting a right-wing Supreme Court that loves corporate power and hates reproductive rights; and his attempts to wreak democracy by overthrowing an election loss – Kamala Harris has plenty of room to maneuver. Freedom, in her view, is about breaking the shackles of MAGA extremism – a message that can arguably galvanize the Democratic base and lure independent swing voters, plus some persuadable Republicans.

During Harris’ 38-minute acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, she invoked the word 12 times. After citing MAGA’s hostility to reproductive freedom, she said: “In this election, many other fundamental freedoms are at stake. The freedom to live safe from gun violence in our schools, communities and places of worship. The freedom to love who you love openly and with pride. The freedom to breathe clean air, and drink clean water and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis. And the freedom that unlocks all the others – the freedom to vote.”

One night earlier, running mate Tim Walz said: “When Republicans use the word freedom, they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctor’s office. Corporations – free to pollute your air and water. And banks – free to take advantage of customers. But when we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people that you love. Freedom to make your own health care decisions. And yeah, your kids’ freedom to go to school without worrying about being shot dead in the hall.”

One of Walz’s most memorable slogans – “None of your damn business!” – sounds like a libertarian conservative message of yore.

But, on the Democratic freedom front, perhaps the best line of the convention was delivered by Michigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, a gay co-parent of twin sons. Cleverly repurposing a pro-gun slogan, and mindful that Trump’s Project 2025 and the Supreme Court’s theocrats are hostile to the LGBTQ+ community, Nessel flashed her jewelry and said, “You can pry this wedding ring from my cold, dead, gay hand!”

Democrats didn’t discover the freedom theme overnight. It started to percolate in 2022, shortly after the Supreme Court tossed Roe v. Wade and imperiled the freedom of women to control their own bodies. A special House election was held that August in an upstate New York district that was thought to be reliably pro-MAGA, but, lo and behold, the Democratic candidate, Pat Ryan, scored an upset victory by highlighting the abortion issue. Here’s how he framed it: “Freedom was on the ballot…We centered the concept of freedom…Patriotism to me means, when your fellow Americans’ rights are being taken away, you stand up and fight.”

But, in 2022, the most prominent candidate who hammered that theme was the guy who aspired to be governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro. “Let me tell you something, it’s not freedom to tell women what they’re allowed to do with their bodies. Right?,” Shapiro said at the DNC. “It’s not freedom to tell our schoolchildren what books they’re allowed to read. That’s not freedom. It’s not freedom to tell workers they can work a 40-hour week, but they can’t be a member of a union. That’s not freedom. And it sure as hell isn’t freedom to say, ‘you can go vote, but (Trump) is gonna pick the winner. That’s not freedom…We’re for real freedom.”

At a post-election press conference, Shapiro said freedom 14 times in five minutes.

Presidential campaigns aren’t dominated by the minutiae and nuances of policy. Values and broad themes are what resonate most with voters. We won’t know for another 70 days (and perhaps longer, God forbid) whether Harris’s freedom theme is a winner, but she (and we) can thank the MAGA movement – and its authoritarian ambitions – for putting the f-word totally up for grabs.

Dick Polman, a veteran national political columnist based in Philadelphia and a Writer in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania, writes at DickPolman.net. Email him at dickpolman7@gmail.com.