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As issues like Obama's position on FISA, or the various Supreme Court rulings causes a lot of debate about Obama's need to move right or to the center, I thought I would raise a point I heard or saw somewhere (but can't remember or I would credit better): The public already thinks of Obama as a "liberal" and they like him just fine.
From that LA Times/Bloomberg poll again:
Q33. How would you describe the views of Barack Obama on most matters having to do with politics: Do you generally think of Obama as very liberal, somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat conservative or very conservative, or haven't you heard enough about him yet to say?
Response:
56% - Liberal, 15% - Moderate, 8% - Conservative
Those saying liberal were split 30% saying "very liberal" and 26% "somewhat liberal." Among Democrats only 19% said "very liberal" so it isn't us driving this number up, and Obama is doing just fine (remember he was ahead by 12 in this same poll).
Apparently being a liberal is not toxic.
I do see a positive in this situation though. Even if Obama never embraces the liberal label, if he gets elected and governs well that will do a lot to improve the brand regardless. The public already thinks he is a liberal, so seeing him govern well wears well on liberalism.
After all, we don't need marketing tricks to redeem liberalism. All we have to do is govern better than conservatives, which isn't hard at all. That bar is low. Government that merely functions being run by a person deemed "liberal" is real world proof liberalism works. All Obama has to do is not purposely run a kleptocratic, scorched earth travesty of an administration full of flat earthers and theocrats, where the only debate among historians will be whether Orwell, Kafka or Heller best analog its absurdity and malice.
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