[CatoRenasci]

Part of the difficulty with this approach, is that the left could quite properly point out that the slaveholding South couched its opposition to Lincoln in 'states rights' terms in 1860-61.

The issue remains, as it was before The War, the extent to which the federal government's power extends. What has changed (besides the vast expansion of that power) is that this issue is no longer clouded by the question of whether slavery is acceptable in a society whose founding documents proclaim the equality of all men (used in the 18th century sense to mean all human beings).

[KeyBored]

The phrase "states rights", as you have pointed out, is a term that can be readily demonized. Perhaps we should use a term that predates it - Federalism

fed·er·al·ism ( P ) Pronunciation Key (fdr--lzm, fdr-)
n.

A. A system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and constituent political units.
B. Advocacy of such a system of government.

Is this not an example of the principle of "he who owns the language, controls the argument"?