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August 05, 2004

GOP cries of "liberal, liberal" don't work anymore

In modern presidential elections, the Republicans can always be relied upon to play the "liberal, liberal" game. You know, the one that goes like this..."The Democrats have nominated the most liberal ticket in the history of....etc.,etc." In the past, they've believed that the simply use of this much-abused word will, in and of itself, define their opponent in such a horrifying way that voters will rush to embrace the GOP alternative.
It won't work this year. (By Rick Howell)

Actually, it hasn't worked in quite a while. The "liberal label" weapon was deployed endlessly against Michael Dukakis in 1988. If it succeeded, it was only because the Dukakis campaign basically refused to respond to any of the many attacks against it. So it's impossible to say which one worked the best.

It certainly didn't work in 1992, when it was tried against Bill Clinton and Al Gore. In 2000, it didn't stop Gore from winning the popular vote. Already, we've heard this word used about John Kerry, as "a Massachusetts liberal." We've heard dire reports of how liberal he is, according to the National Journal, which, I'm willing to bet, is only read by Washington insiders, anyway.
Voters can't be blamed if, when they hear this, they react to the GOP by wondering: "Is that all you've got?" We live in complicated times. Matters of terrorism, national security, health care, environmental protection, and other important issues must be investigated by a pursuit of real knowledge and with a serious approach to possible solutions. No single word can tell voters everything they need to know, and most voters realize that.

When used by the GOP, the word "liberal" basically passes for anything Republicans have decided they don't like. It's handy now and again to ask people to look it up in the dictionary. I won't quote the entry, but it generally means that a liberal is one who is open-minded, generous, and given to believe in progress. Horrible things, huh?

John Kerry has been right to point out that if this administration wants to claim the conservative label, it has some explaining to do. There's nothing conservative about sky-high deficits; nothing conservative about dumping the bills for today's spending on our children and grandchildren. There's nothing conservative about a foreign adventure based on faulty intelligence that spends billions, costs lives, and has nothing to do with the legitimate threat of terror.

Crying "liberal, liberal" won't work when you have so much explaining to do.

Rick Howell is chairman of the Amherst County Democratic Committee, and is Host of the Lynchburg Kerry Meet-Ups.

Posted by rickhowell at August 5, 2004 03:40 PM

Comments

You would think that if the Democrats were so liberal they'd be easier to find in the Amherst area. I couldn't agree more that the word liberal is missused. But, I have found the Democrats in and around Amherst to be the quiet, muffled, and fearful conservative. Too many times people have whispered to me that they were a Democrat and wanted to help the cause but because of the secrecy among the people it was impossable to find someone in charge. Let's step out of the shadows so we can find each other.

Posted by: Robert Reeves at August 8, 2004 02:49 PM

Amen, Robert. ;)

- Aaron

Posted by: Aaron at August 8, 2004 10:04 PM