Liberal or Conservative?: The use of Political labels to smear candidates

It is now the fashionable order of the day to use the political labels such as liberal or conservative as a smear for a person inside your group that thinks differently on major issues. For example, a Republican being branded liberal is a bad thing inside the Republican group, while a Democrat being seen as conservative is equally bad inside the Democratic camp. This negative labeling brings up the question what are conservative and liberal other than labels we use to describe people either pejoratively or positively depending on who is using the label to describe an action that was taken.

I believe that there are four categories of individuals inside both major parties: conservatives, liberals, moderates, and neoconservatives. This labeling gets more complicated because different actions can earn different labels for the same person. What is the meaning of each of these labels?

• Conservatives are those who adhere to a philosophy of conservatism which believes in tradition, stability, and established institutions. Core political political positions include lower taxes, limited government, limited regulation on business and investment, and a strong national defense.
• Liberals are those who adhere to a philosophy of liberalism which belives in progress and essential goodness of the human race. Core political positions include autonomy of the individual as well as protection of civi rights and civil liberties.
• Moderates are those that profess non extreme positions on the core issues of both liberals and conservatives.
• Neoconservatives are people who promotes the assertive promotion of democracy and the intervention of the United States in world affairs by military means.
  (Definitions from Merriam-Webster's Dictionary.)

These thoughts are coming out of an article that is in The State newspaper this morning. Political columnist James Rosen chronicles Senator Lindsey Graham's voting record in his article Graham : Liberal label inaccurate. The article chronicles the difference in treat he recieves from the media and political colleagues and that he recieves from the people, particularly of the upstate region he calls home. Currently he gets defined by the relatively few times he crosses a party line to solve a problem. The actions looming largest in the minds of the voters are the following:

Immigration: Senator Graham supported a bipartisan compromise that included border enforcement and a set of rules that most liberals disagreed with to legalize the illegals that had been here for a certain amount of time. This seemed fair enough, but many just wanted them all sent back.

Torture: He questioned the administration's policy on the definition of torture. This angered "conservatives" who thought that he should go along with the administration on this point. He questioned this policy based n his experience as a military lawyer. The military is, by nature, a conservative institution.

Hillary Clinton: Sen. Graham praised Hillary Clinton which recieved criticism from conservatives.

Gang of 14: Counted correctly as one of his accomplishments, but nonethe less highly criticized by fellow conservatives. He brokered the deal to preserve the instittution of the United States Senate.

Looking at each of these actions to measure his conservatism or liberalism is foolish becasue one has to measure his entire record. It is also not neccessarily conservative or liberal to walk in lockstep (which he hasn't done) behind a president. Looking at each of these actions puts him n the moderate-conservative camp. I am not counting the praise of Hillary Clinton in the caluculation because I think that one can have no political agenda when praising a colleague.

I see the immigration compromise as moderate becasue it allowed people to recieve special visas after returnining to their country of origin and meeting certain requirements.

Sen. Graham's response to the torture is conservative because it follows established precedent and laws. It also follows the experience of the military, which he loves and is a very conservative institution. In his response he also wanted to protect any member of our armed forces that may be held captive.

The Gang of 14 compromise could also be seen in a conservative light as preserving the institution of the United States Senate and allowing the confirmation of several formerly controversial nominees, as well as, Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito.

Calling Sen Graham a liberal is using the term as a pejorative in order to gain political advantage and is espescially disingenuous when one examines his entire record and observes the hard right camapign he is running just to maintian his Senate seat.

We need to properly use the labels to identify people instead of as pejorative. I do not fell that either position of seeking progress or maitaining tradition is wrong. In fact I beleive that this country is about seeking progress within the existing traditions and institutions of the nation.