I have noticed that people use the words "Conservative" and "Liberal" quite a bit. In the interest of having fun I sometimes toss around the words myself because I enjoy making people squirm. I am actuaIly an Independent Voter and I find labels damaging. When discussing religion you fall into distinct categories; atheist or believer. When discussing race issues like affirmative action you are either a racist or you are not. And it logically follows that if you are discussing politics then you are either, yes, liberal or conservative. There are no thin black lines on complex issues, only many thick grey lines. In the case of politics the thick grey line is the rift of ideology vs political reality.
When I was in college I once posed the question to my favorite professor of Poli Sci. He said “Mac, it’s really quite simple. You are liberal until you have something to conserve.” This only explained the fiscal realities of politics. I have frequently espoused my dislike of paying inordinate taxes to fund programs that I do not support (welfare abuse, foreign aid to hostile or useless nations) while unable to receive benefits from any of them should I need it (scholarships, etc.) because I “make too much money”. So I pressed him further. It then became a question of ideology. He generalized that Republicans, or Conservatives, govern according to how the world really is while the Dems, or Liberals, base their policies on how the world should be. This can really be best explained by reading Atlas Shrugged.
But the words are admittedly overused and really serve to over-generalize. To be honest, with the state of things as they are it is increasingly important that we understand the words before we throw them around. Especially at a time when the country may be 30% or more centrist. A centrist is as it sounds. Bill “the stainmaker” Clinton was a textbook centrist. He courted the far left wing of his party while compromising their core beliefs on other issues to maintain the balance of power. While many partisan politicians and voters lean very far to the right or left of middle others walk the thick grey line. That is the swing, or independent voter.
I recently got a call from a political pollster asking me of my party affiliation. I replied that I don’t have one, I am an independent voter. She retorted that I am an “undecided voter”. I informed her that there was no indecision about it, you fucking Democrat, I just don’t affiliate myself with a particular party. And then I hung up on her. People like myself are the key to this election and I will be courted heavily by both parties. One of which is John Kerry of my home state of Massachusetts. Kerry is too far on both sides of any issue to be in the middle of anything. So I have defined the centrist, or Independent but I still haven’t touched upon liberal vs. conservative.
Generally speaking the parties (Dems/liberals vs Repubs/conserv from this point on) attempt to adhere to historical precedent. And they have core beliefs. Without speculating or embellishing, it is a proven truism that Democrats are for the basic principles of big government, higher taxes and social programs. LBJ and his “great society” was a classic Democratic notion. The domestic front is of great concern while foreign policy is done on a multilateral basis with much emphasis on the opinions of the world community. Generally walk a careful line with the Constitution.
Republicans are generally for business, catering openly to special interests and the wealthy. They are for a strong military, a New World Order, economic growth, small government and lower taxes. And very much in bed with the religious right under the umbrella of “family values”.
These of course are very broad strokes and of course there have been Democratss who were strong on Defense (JFK) and Republicans who raised taxes (George Bush the senior). And it might be pointed out that his tax hike cost him an election. It has been said that Democrats measure their success by how many people depend on the government while Republicans measure theirs by how many don’t depend on it. But once again these are broad strokes. Some exceptions come to mind.
Bill Clinton as a Democrat was labeled to be soft on crime and punishment and big on social programs. Yet it was he who passed the largest and most comprehensive increase in funding to city firefighters and police nationwide to help them reduce crime. And he also instituted the largest cuts in social welfare since the administration of LBJ. And Harry Truman is the first and only sitting President to attack another country with a nuclear weapon. Not very true to liberal thinking.
Example two, George W. Bush as a Republican does not believe in nation building, yet that is exactly what he is doing in Iraq. A noble gesture but most Republicans would blow the shit out of the country and hand them a mop. And for the record I support his efforts. George W also pandered against his political base by granting citizenship to 12 million illegal immigrants.
George Bush is not a good example of a conservative Republican. When he ran as a “compassionate conservative” he was actually announcing that he was a centrist! Bush is not a Conservative. He was only trying to distance himself from the Falwells, Strom Thurmonds and Limbaugh's so as not to scare the shit out of undecided voters. Sure he has the prerequisite staples of Conservatism; small government, big deficits, pro-life and God. But he is also infuriatingly neutral on sensitive issues and has isolated the far right.
John Kerry on the other hand is a classic Liberal. And I don’t use the word like the pope would say “birth control”. He believes openly in big government, higher taxes and pandering to the emasculating influences of the joke we call the UN. This does not make him a bad person. The fact that he waffles on everything is what I don’t like about him. But he is still a far cry from that fucking jackass (oops I mean Donkey) Howard Dean. He would have raised our taxes, married off all the gay couples and pulled us out of Iraq and make our nation an international laughing stock.
Having stated the above, the three examples given do not effectively portray a clear-cut description of political philosophies. But that's OK, as an undecided voter I will choose the right candidate, not along party lines. That is because in the year 2004 there is no margin for error.
Did I clear this up at all. For some perhaps but like I said it is not as easy as it looks. In a few posts I will describe my political views and you will see that I don’t pigeon-hole easily.
Why did I post this? Because this is what I am into. By the way did you know that John Kerry is a Vietnam Veteran? Just thought I'd point it out because he may not have mentioned it in the last five minutes.