Of course SOME voters--typically the > uniformed, non-ideological mushy moderate median voter--have no memories, but > many do, and of course there's always the media to lamaste Republicans at > least for changing positions (especially in a more conservative direction). > Frankly, almost no candidate seems to court the median voter; you almost > never hear candidates saying, "vote for me, I'm the most centrist candidate." > > David >
But you do see liberals (when outside the northeast) describe themselves as "moderates," while Republicans like Bush, with political stances hardly distinguishable from the liberal John Kennedy in the early '60's, describe themselves as "conservatives." I think both parties tend to portray themselves as more conservative than their actual policies would indicate. Why might that be? Does this phenomenon happen in other countries too? Also, does the necessity for successful politicians to strategically position themselves on the issues to gain the maximum vote share suggest that the ability to deceive the voters is more important in democratic politics than the ability to persuade them? As political marketing specialists--oops! I mean political "strategists"--sometimes say, "Issues divide, images unite." Furthermore, I typically notice that in Presidential debates both candidates are careful not to distinguish themselves on specific issues too sharply from their opponent. I also notice that questions related to ethnic balance or ethnic political rivalry are always too hot even to ask, much less answer. To a surprising degree, both our major parties in the US have become ethnic parties, but this is never discussed publicly. Related to this, economists often focus on the value of open-borders labor markets for global economic efficiency, but typically ignore the risk of political destabilization; there is also a tendency to ignore the question of whether the government of a nation has as its primary duty (of two duties) to maximize global welfare or to balance the interests of its own voters' upper and lower classes for a happy medium between growth and security. ~Alypius Skinner
