Saturday, February 05, 2005

Liberal

In 1988, Vice President George H.W. Bush, running for president, called his Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis "a liberal."

It was a slam.

Dukakis didn't respond at first. Finally, he trotted out a tired Democratic retort. He said, "Yes, I am a liberal . . . in the tradition of FDR, Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy."

Like a fool who hands a burglar his house keys, Dukakis was complicit that is in helping right wing propagandists cheapen the battle of ideas by smearing and tainting words so that they don't have to discuss actual ideas.

Dukakis was afraid of admitting he is a liberal because that word has been hijacked by the right wing and redefined. It's not wrong to be angry at the left wing for allowing it to happen because they just handed over the keys.

Comedian Bill Maher said, "One thing I've got against Democrats is that they never defend the word liberal. They let the Republicans demonize it. No one from the Democratic party ever stood up and said, 'Look up liberal in the dictionary. It means 'open minded' and 'forward thinking.' These are not bad things. These are thing I would want to teach my children."

When Clinton was running for president, he was also called a liberal. Clinton tried mocking the mockers by saying, when Republicans don't want to talk about issues, all they say is 'liberal, liberal, liberal' like a broken record. But he didn't sing the praises of liberalism. He also avoided it. He, too, handed over the keys.

Interviewing John Edwards late in the 2004 campaign, Ted Koppel "Are you a liberal?"

"No," Edwards leapt, leaning forward as if diving for a foul ball -- because that's how Democrats think of the word. It's a foul ball.

Conservatives aren't afraid of admitting it. They're proud of it. When Democrats get mealy-mouthed about reclaiming the word, it shows they are cautious and afraid and out-of-touch with just how strong, progressive and ambitiously open-minded many citizens are. They can be awakened if they have leaders strong enough to be the mirrors of progressive thinking that so many American have become.

"I have been fiercely partisan in politics and always militantly liberal," said Harry Truman. "I will be that way as long as I live."

When Democrats are too meek to declare the wonderful positions they take on serious issues -- and to proudly describe that position as liberal -- then they come across as mealy-mouthed and evasive. That's no way to round up the troops.

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