"Most Liberal Senator" Nonsense

In last night's debate McCain trotted out the standard and extremely tired "most liberal" senator charge against Obama. This claim, based on the assessment of the conservative National Journal, is dubious at best. Amazingly, they somehow are able to apply the "most liberal" title to whoever the Democrats nominate for President whether it is Kerry or Gore or Dukakis or Mondale. Go figure. What ticks me off more than the dubiousness of the label is Obama's lack of response to the charge during the debate.

Conservatives have worked so long and so hard to turn "liberal" into a four letter word that Democrats reflexively cringe in unison when the word is blurted at them. Obama, too, seemed unable to form a sentence in response to McCain calling him such a profane name. To me, the correct response is simple and a man as eloquent as Obama is the perfect person to deliver that response.

In the eyes of Republicans all you have to do is call someone liberal and you've automatically banished that person to the extreme outer reaches of society; You've defined that person as leftist and out of touch with the mainstream by uttering one simple word. This connotation of the word liberal is, of course, nonsense and was created out of thin air by people like Rush Limbaugh. Democrats, however, have for many years seemed powerless to disarm the totally fabricated and inaccurate definition of the word.

Step one in responding to the word liberal is to expose Republicans as the propagandists they are. Explain briefly and coherently the source of the ranking- a conservative publication- and the fact that said publication has a history of labeling every Democratic nominee as "the most liberal". The charge lacks credibility and the candidate needs to say so.

The second step for a candidate like Obama is to say "I'd like to address Senator McCain's charge by explaining which votes and views of mine have earned me- right or wrong- the 'most liberal' label. Frankly, the majority of Americans agree with the vast majority of my so-called liberal positions." Obama can then briefly recite his positions on a number of positions:

• I believe our veterans shouldn't be nickled and dimed on health care.
• I believe that corporations should be held accountable.
• I believe quality public education benefits all of society.
• I believe in pursuing energy independence.
• I believe we have a responsibility to protect the environment
• I believe in stem cell research.
• I believe that our trade partners should have to play on a level playing field.
• I believe that the power of lobbyists and special interests are too great.
• I believe all Americans should have access to quality health care.

There are obviously dozens of other view he could cite. The point is to deconstruct the term "liberal" down to its components and show that the views that make Obama liberal are all incredibly mainstream.

It's time for Dems to stop cowering when they are called "liberal". Instead, they need to attack the charge head on and actually try to take the profanity out of the word once and for all.