The Jaker

Mostly rational politics, with occasional rants about how a few crazy Republicans are ruining the country.


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Thursday, November 04, 2004
Redefining liberalism
Here's an interesting thought from Chris Bowers of MyDD. I need to think about it more, but it's a compelling argument. It's about how 33% of voters identified themselves as Conservative, but only 21% as Liberal. Liberal has become a dirty word, and we have to reverse that.
The solution to our problems, the only solution that actually addresses our problems rather than criticizes us for not doing well at tasks where we actually excel, is to increase the number of liberals in this country at a more rapid pace than the number of conservatives are increasing. We must grow liberalism.
...
We have to define liberalism according to positive semiotic frames. We have to be willing to take these frames to every corner of the nation, and run candidates in every single race in every single district (preparation for which begins today). We have to be willing to spend tens of millions of dollars not to win elections, not to help "worthy causes," but simply to sell liberalism. We cannot be reconciliatory, since the conservative reactionaries never have been, and never will be. This has worked to their advantage. Being conservative must become a dirty word.

As a start, I'm going to buy and read Thomas Frank's book "What's the Matter with Kansas", and try to determine where we lost the moral highground in middle America.
posted by CB @ 11:16 AM  
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