The Power of Word Choice

Fair Trade, Employee Free Choice Act, Competitive Option: Democrats have successfully used names and words to manipulate opinions and disguise meaning. The headline of a recent New York Times article illustrates this well: "G.O.P. Moderate, Pressed by Right, Abandons Race."

Dede Scozzafava, the "moderate Republican" was hardly moderate before a conservative candidate, Doug Hoffman, entered the New York congressional race (her campaign website has since changed to show a more conservative side, but too little too late). Scozzafava is liberal both fiscally and socially. While I do not take issue with her social views, I do take issue with the term "moderate Republican" since her views are very liberal. It would be better to called her a "liberal Republican" (or even a RINO- Republican in name only)

The New York party leadership was upset with the national attention of the race and tried to portray it as strong-arming from the national party overpowering local desires:

“They’re trying to bang 435 elections across the United States into the same mold,” said James Ellis, chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party. “It’s a detriment to democracy.”

But it was not the national party that was being polled when Hoffman was trouncing Scozzafava in popularity. It was the people of the district, and they made it clear that they wanted a conservative candidate. This should be a lesson to the party bigwigs: they are not the voters. American voters across the country, in Tea Parties and elsewhere, have shown they want real conservatives. The right has not mastered the word manipulation like the left, and these grassroots voters are called "astroturf" and "tea-baggers." With a few words, the left discredits the legitimate opinions of citizens.

That word choice is at issue in the NY Times article. Americans recognize that Democrats can be conservative but we don't apply analogous terminology to the liberal Republicans. When Democrats say "we need more moderate Republicans" what they really mean is "we need more Republicans who vote almost entirely Democrat."

Republicans need to reposition themselves and redefine what "Republican" and "moderate Republican" really means. This needs to come from the people, and not just a select group of the party leadership.