Bernie Sanders is a socialist,[1] and social democracy is a type of socialism.[2] That blog you linked to is, at best, advocating a very idiosyncratic use of terminology.

1: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11... 2: http://www.britannica.com/topic/social-democracy

That doesn't matter to most of America. They hear "socialist", "social something", and they are going to be against it.

They certainly seem to love their Social Security.

They do, and they also hold up signs that state "Keep Government out of my Medicare." I didn't state US citizens as a whole are very bright.