Modern Politics
If you hear it once, you hear it forever.
The majority of the people in this country are moderates, centrist.
Ed Koch has said it, John McCain has said it, and my Aunt, perhaps the smartest person I have ever met, has said it.
But I don't believe it.
In my opinion, people view themselves as moderates--I know that I did. Voting for John McCain in 2000, my admiration for Joe Lieberman, Bob Dole, George Voinovich and others.
I saw myself as a moderate.
But I am not a moderate, and I am not a centrist.
While I saw my political beliefs as in the center, most people around me saw me as different. A hard line, Reagan-esque conservative. I saw them as liberals.
The truth is that in politics, we can't define ourselves. Other people have to do it for us. While I am liberal on certain issues--gun control, gay marriage to name a few, it didn't stop my friend and fellow BG News writer Joe Bugbee from referring to me as "my conservative counterpart" in his final column.
Was it because of my support for the president? My distrust of Howard Dean? My lack of faith in the effectiveness of Clinton politics? Did it even matter?
Well it doesn't matter, and I've made my peace with it.
George Bush is a uniter in his own mind--a right wing fanatic to others.
John Kerry is a moderate democrat in his own mind--a pinko commie to some.
But I know what I am now. If being a moderate is being Bill Maher, then count me out. If being a moderate is believing that a baby's life starts at birth, than count me out.
I love liberals and moderates and I think that we need them for balance. A completely conservative world wouldn't work, nor would a completely liberal one. We need all kinds, because beyond all of the bickering, it doesn't matter if you support John Kerry to me, or Ralph Nader. Political orientation doesn't and shouldn't define us. Some of my best friends have very little in common with me politically. That's the way it is.
That's my opinion, from one conservative's perspective.