Politically speaking, nothing frustrates me more than people who don’t understand the political spectrum or the issues. I’m talking about people who follow politics or are involved in it.
I come across people all the time who think they are liberal, but when we discuss issues one-by-one, they seem to be much more conservative than they would ever admit. They support conservative ideals, but they consistently vote liberal.
I appreciated this little questionnaire that was written by Dennis Prager. It is taken in its entirety from dennisprager.com
Are You a Liberal?
It is my belief that about half of the Americans who call themselves liberal do not hold the great majority of positions held by mainstream liberal institutions such as the New York Times editorial page, People for the American Way, and the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. So here is a test of this thesis to be given to anyone who believes he or she is a liberal. If you feel I have omitted a liberal position or have unfairly characterized any of them here, please email me. This is still a work in progress.
Thank you,
Dennis PragerYou say you are a liberal.
Do you believe the following?
- Standards for admissions to universities, fire departments, etc. should be lowered for people of color.
- Bilingual education for children of immigrants, rather than immersion in English, is good for them and for America.
- Murderers should never be put to death.
- During the Cold War, America should have adopted a nuclear arms freeze.
- Colleges should not allow ROTC programs.
- It was wrong to wage war against Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War.
- Poor parents should not be allowed to have vouchers to send their children to private schools.
- It is good that trial lawyers and teachers unions are the two biggest contributors to the Democratic Party.
- Marriage should be redefined from male-female to any two people.
- A married couple should not have more of a right to adopt a child than two men or two women.
- The Boy Scouts should not be allowed to use parks or any other public places and should be prohibited from using churches and synagogues for their meetings.
- The present high tax rates are good.
- Speech codes on college campuses are good and American values are bad.
- The Israelis and Palestinians are morally equivalent.
- The United Nations is a moral force for good in the world, and therefore America should be subservient to it and such international institutions as a world court.
- It is good that colleges have dropped hundreds of men’s sports teams in order to meet gender-based quotas.
- No abortions can be labeled immoral.
- Restaurants should be prohibited by law from allowing customers to choose between a smoking and a non-smoking section.
- High schools should make condoms available to students and teach them how to use them.
- Racial profiling for terrorists is wrong — a white American grandmother should as likely be searched as a Saudi young male.
- Racism and poverty — not a lack of fathers and a crisis of values — are the primary causes of violent crime in the inner city.
- It is wrong and unconstitutional for students to be told, “God bless you” at their graduation.
- No culture is morally superior to any other.
Those are all liberal positions. How many of them do you hold?
That reminds me of when I was running for office — numerous times I met black people and discussed the issues with them, without them knowing I was running as a Republican. We agreed on almost every issue. When I asked them to vote for me, they agreed — until they found out I was running as a Republican: “Oh no, I have to vote Democrat, I’m black.”
I was raised by two people who consistently voted Democrat all my life. When I got to college, I started to question voting Democrat just because my parents did. I ended up voting for Jesse Ventura for governor. I had not yet become a Christian, so I was not yet a conservative, and yet I felt it foolish to vote Democrat simply because my parents did. I wouldn’t vote Ventura if given another chance, but the elections in 1998 got me to at least think about things, rather than voting one way or another just because that was the way I was supposed to vote.
What office did you run for, if you don’t mind my asking?
I ran for North Carolina Senate. It sounds like a lofty position, and actually it is, but the vast majority of people in the state amazingly do not understand that there is a senate. I think the most-asked question I got was, “Are you running against Jesse Helms?” — and Senator Helms was not even up for election that year.
I considering taking another run in 2006, potentially for a House of Representatives seat.
It’s amazing how illiterate people are of government, especially state and local.
My uncle (the one who died in January) ran for Minnesota State Senate in 1996. His son ran for a similar seat in another district in (I think) 2000. The ironic thing about my uncle’s race was that he ran as a democrat and lost. Since then, his opponent switched parties and is now a democrat as well.
Most people haven’t got a clue about state positions. They usually just vote party line. At least that’s how it is around here.
Exactly how it is here, too. All the actual competitive races are the primaries.