Is It Cool to Be a 'Liberal' Again?

More are embracing the long-benighted term

"Liberal" is no longer a dirty word - or at least, it's not as dirty as it used to be. On Election Day, 25% of voters claimed to be liberals - a jump up from 22% from 2008, and from 17% at Reagan's re-election in 1984.

Why are more people now happy to be liberal? A few factors could be at work. Demographics that mostly self-identify as liberal are growing apace - including Latinos, religious non-believers, and college graduates. And the perception among Democrats that Obama is both cool and a liberal has probably made the label more fashionable - or at least less shameful - than it once was.

Note that "liberal" is still far less popular than "conservative" as a form of self-branding. 35% of voters called themselves conservatives on Nov 6, and that number has stayed roughly the same for decades.

Via the Washington Post.

Why do you think more Americans are happy to call themselves liberals?

[PoliticalSpice]

I think Republicans have given "conservative" such a bad name, it makes "liberal" sound more appealing. Personally I think liberals don't fight hard enough. Obama is a good example. When he got in he put in a weak stimulas plan. He should have put through a WPA jobs program to rebuild the country: cut govt energy cost by installing solar electric on government buildings; create thousands of jobs laying rails, building engines and rail cards to create national high speed rail; repairing bridges and tunnels. He should have ignored conservatives, not given them the summer to organize tea party opposition, and pushed through a single payer, national health care system or at least one with a government option, early in his term he had the support to do that.

Those are the type of things I can support, liberal half measures, like requiring purchase of insurance from greedy corporations, or his weak stimulas program, are just not sollutions for the problems we face. Since he is getting called a socialist anyway, why doesn't he start acting like one? Answer: because he's really not. Indeed, hes not even that liberal. His health care plan was basically created by a man the Republicans just ran for president. Does that mean Republicans are liberals too? But perhaps I have strayed a bit from the orignial question.

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

PoliticalSpice; "Does that mean Republicans are liberals too?"

Some liberals have infiltrated the Republican party. Romney was the head of that group of liberals. We are in the process of purging our party of those who are unfaithful to conservative principals. You won't have to worry about a bad name for conservatives anymore.

[PoliticalSpice]

@Neo_NtheMatrix
So you did not vote Romney? May I ask who you voted for? Understanding its too early, and all that, who do you think you might support in 2016?

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

@PoliticalSpice - I'm hoping for Paul Ryan or Rick Santorum for 2016. Either of them would make a fine president.

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

@Neo_NtheMatrix - Paul Ryan would be great more for his fiscal acumen. Rick Santorum would be great more for his social morality. Both would be great leaders that could lead our nation back to sanity, that is if we're still a nation come 2016.

[PoliticalSpice]

@Neo_NtheMatrix
Well, i wouldn't vote for them, but wouldn't be opposed to having them get the republican nomination. Question what if any issues are ther that would not make you pick Bauchman, Palin (though I doubt she'd it), Perry, Gingrich..

Also if you don't mind saying do you identify as Tea Party, as Republican or as Conservative. I've ruled out libertarian based on what you said, and am trying to better understand where you are coming from...

[stepped_in_it]

Here's my take on why....

1) Liberal is more fun (who likes to conserve when it's "party time"?)
2) Liberal is easier (you don't have to "be responsible", blame the conservative)
3) Your Sundays are open for watching sports (no dang church interruptions)
>>>>>>> >and my final reason<<<<<< <<<<<<< <<
4) It's easier to spell liberal than conservative!
>>>>>>NOW, this was all said with "tongue in cheek", so, please check your attitudes at the door and laugh for once. All you Libs have fun watching sports today and all you Conserves.......say a pray for me (I NEED it!)

[PoliticalSpice]

Yea, I find too many on this site either lack a sense of humor, or don't have a clue when someone is joking or being satirical/sarcastic. Including people whose policits I support...

[stepped_in_it]

@PoliticalSpice Yep, me too! Just hope they all read the WHOLE statement before lambasting me into the next county!!(even though I'm in need of a good lambasting!) Have a wonderful Sunday (either way you spend it! LOL)

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

Our country is going down the toilet. I see nothing to laugh at. Anyone that likes to be called liberal is probably on the government dole (i.e.: being paid to wear the 'liberal' label). I can't conceive of any other reason why someone would want to be thought of as such.

[stepped_in_it]

@Neo_NtheMatrix Agree. But, most on the government "dole" can't spell liberal, don't understand what liberal means and wouldn't understand politics in any way if it smacked them in the face. Now, I'm ready for that "lambasting" again. What most don't understand is I work with the "dolees" (new word). They are PROUD of their "free" stuff. They tell me daily about the stamps, free housing, medicaid and other "free" stuff they get! Sickens me. Only "free" thing I ever got was......NOT A DAMN THING!! But, Neo, have decided since it's NOT legal to "cleanse" the land of them, I need to laugh sometimes! Keeps me from WANTING to "cleanse" this land....

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

@stepped_in_it - We don't need to cleanse the land (that reads like genocide). What we need to do is throw the "dolees" off of the government dole. Then you wouldn't have to worry about wanted to cleanse the land. And I think those who are proud to be on welfare and foodstamps are most definitely liberal.

[twinertia]

Simple: liberals have a bigger tent, with fewer bouncers guarding the flaps.

[Laradian]

Yeah...what she just said.
Endorsed.

[Nickthefiddler]

That is a nice and witty way to put it Thanks ....from a London Anarcho libertarian syndicalist

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

First off, I don't think Americans are happy calling themselves liberals. Those who are happy to be identified as liberals are fools. No patriotic American would want to be labeled as a liberal. Liberals want to change everything about America. I say the Founding Fathers got it right when they wrote the Constitution. I believe in family, God, and hard work, and a healthy dose of self accountability. I believe in rugged individualism and a 'can do' spirit. I don't need a nanny government to watch over me and provide me with everything and make sure I'm safe. Dependence is a very bad thing and Americans are becoming more and more dependent. Stay away from those malignant demonic souls known as liberals.

[stepped_in_it]

Some are "happy" calling themselves liberal and are NOT fools, just purely L A Z Y. I believe in all that you do and the Constitution. I believe that the governments role should be much, much smaller in "our" society! Problem is, more of "our" society wants to be taken care of. The younger generation have proven this to me! And whose fault is that? The "older" generation. We (or, more like YOU) have allowed them to suck off our teats for so long that they just go from teat to teat! What ever happened to TOUGH LOVE? Dependence is a VERY BAD thing... but we have allowed that! Look around. 30 somethings living at home while buying I-Phones, new fancy cars and not working. Why? The parents. Oh, my poor baby, let me wipe that booty again....and they suck it up!

[AceLuby]

@stepped_in_it Give me a break. I'm 29, make $100k per year, own my own home, and think that I should be paying more in taxes (and actually do for property taxes). Your arguments are the EXACT same things that have been said for my entire lifetime. First it was generation X (who is now 40), then it was generation Y, and now you conservatives want to blame the next generation (yet again) for the problems of our country.

Our govt is for the people by the people. It should be effective and should be balanced. Is it really shocking that when conservatives elect people who hate the govt into govt office that it doesn't work very well? If you were president of a company hiring a CEO, would you want someone who loves the company, or would you want someone who wants it to be ineffective? THIS is the core problem, not the 6% of the budget that goes to the poor.

[Dallas_TX_Demz]

@AceLuby I don't know why or how the "conservatives" came up with the idea that liberals are all Lazy. If anything, the conservatives are the lazy ones. Which is why the liberal Latinos have all the jobs that the conservatives didn't want. Most of the red states are the free- loaders that they love to complain about. Republicans are actually pretty funny people. I say that because of the ridiculous crap that come from their mouth.

[Cheenoguy]

The Founding Fathers wanted religion out of government, only allowed white men to vote, and allowed slavery. You down with all that as well?
I can't wait to see how pissed you are when you get to Canada and find out how little influence you will have on the actually liberal government there.

[stepped_in_it]

@AceLuby Ok, a break for you! But, tell me how many under 30's YOU know that are in the same position. I do applaud you and I do know some myself in your same position. BUT (why do I always start a sentence with but..LOL), I also know a majority that aren't and are very happy with the situations I described above.

[Bobolinsky]

If that's true, Liberals would be wise to drop the "progressive" label since most of the willfully ignorant are so ignorant that they don't understand that "progressive" and "liberal" are synonyms. That way, liberals don't destroy the "progressive" label and only re-destroy "liberal."

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

Word games.

[PoliticalSpice]

Proggressive and liberal may be the same thing to you, and perhaps some liberals, but not the same thing to progressives. See my post at the very top of this thread. Proggressives, for the most part adopted the word not because they wanted to hide their liberal leaning, but because they disliked liberals the way some conservatives dislike mainstream/moderate Republicans...

[Bobolinsky]

@PoliticalSpice-- Ok. I read your post... What's the difference? A Big, Activist Government answer for everything. Big... Activist... Government.

[Bobolinsky]

@Bobolinsky-- Or were you referring to the unwillingness of the New Progressive Left to compromise?

[PoliticalSpice]

@Bobolinsky
Oh their are big differences between requiring one to get private insurance and having a government sponsored plan everyone is covered by. Between quibbling over stimulas and having government take a role in rebuilding infastructure, investing substantial government funds in creating a national high speed rail system and as opposed to doling out small sums for transit improvement. Providing unemployed people with actual jobs that have meaning instead of doling out money for unemployment insurance to insure a large cheap labor pool. Slashing military spending to fund hunan needs. Imprisoning those who swindled those out of their money and foreclosed on their homes by misleading morgage schemes, instead of bailing them out. Buying and storinf surplus crops during bumper crop years so prices don't drop and farms don't go bankrupt; realeasing the excess in years of low yeilds to keep good prices low, as opposed to cash payments to corporate farms that put money in the bank, but do nothing to keep food affordable and farming viable in good years and bad. True energy independence, rather then putting us at the mercy of multi national corporations.

These are real differences. You won't see liberals doing any of this, maybe FDR would have done this had he lived, but no one since.

[MRMacrum]

"they don't understand that "progressive" and "liberal" are synonyms"

Somewhat related to the lack of understanding on the Right of what a Conservative is.

[Fitz]

Social liberal, fiscal conservative.

[Rocker]

Same here. Considering the state of everything, I don't think I would be particularly enamored to say either side's agenda is 'cool' unless things start going a bit better. We're looking at another 4 years to see if these two "6-year olds" can play with each other.

[MongoAPillager]

@Rocker just be wary if these "six year olds"do agree,the only thing they seem to agree on is the destruction of our country

[Rocker]

@MongoAPillager - I disagree. You and I would agree on the destruction. They would agree that they're doing a first-rate job of legislating. lol

[marine1]

socially responsible,fiscally responsible, would that be too much to hope for?

[jessejaymes]

It's not cool with me. Extremists liberals are no different than extremists conservatives. Neither want the govt messing around in what they prefer while both want the govt legislating that which they don't like. Both liberals and conservatives are wanna be dictators who both think "their side" is the only solution and only correctness. Both sides have destroyed this nation.

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

I take issue with blaming conservatives for the failures liberals have inflicted on this nation.

[Dan_Tien]

@Neo_NtheMatrix You take issue with blaming conservatives for anything.

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

@Dan_Tien - What have conservatives done to deserve blame for?

[jessejaymes]

@Neo_NtheMatrix Conservatives had six years of controlling congress under Bush. And you would call those "good years"? Amazing.

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

@jessejaymes - Compared to these years, those years were great years.

[Pack7]

Liberal = living at the expense of others and expecting them to pay for it.

[Laradian]

Conservative: Living at the expense of others...and lying about it.

70% of conservatives live on some form of government aid even while they condemn it.

[Dan_Tien]

John F. Kennedy defined a liberal as follows:
...someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a 'Liberal', then I’m proud to say I’m a 'Liberal'.

[Realthinker]

So far as I am concerned it is the liberal media that gives Republicans and conservatives a bad name by lying about what we stand for. But the Republican "leaders" allowed it to happen; they never fought back. Consequently we have have people who never question the idea that a balanced budget would be "extreme, hateful, racist or greedy". Those who advocate for fiscal sanity, for instance, or a better educational system, are "haters" and again, "extremists". There are more issues on the list, of course.

[Dan_Tien]

There was a balanced budget during the Clinton administration, an actual surplus that could have been used to pay off the debt. The first thing that happened when the next "conservative" administration took over was to spend it and borrow more.

[Thunderchicken]

@Dan_Tien

Not you too? There was no surplus! The budget was never balanced. There was still a deficit and the debt went up every year.

[Dan_Tien]

@Thunderchicken "...there was a surplus of $1.9 billion in fiscal 1999 and $86.4 billion in fiscal 2000. So any way you count it, the federal budget was balanced and the deficit was erased, if only for a while."
http://www.factcheck.org/2008/02/the-budget-a...

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

@Thunderchicken - The liberal media is effective.

[Thunderchicken]

@Dan_Tien

If that's the case, here's an easy $500 for you. Let me know when you collect.

http://clintonsurplus.com/

From your link:

Update, Feb. 11: Some readers wrote to us saying we should have made clear the difference between the federal deficit and the federal debt. A deficit occurs when the government takes in less money than it spends in a given year. The debt is the total amount the government owes at any given time. So the debt goes up in any given year by the amount of the deficit, or it decreases by the amount of any surplus. The debt the government owes to the public decreased for a while under Clinton, but the debt was by no means erased.

Note this sentence:

So the debt goes up in any given year by the amount of the deficit, or it decreases by the amount of any surplus.

Also note that the debt went up during every year of the Clinton presidency.

09/30/2010 13,561,623,030,891.79
09/30/2009 11,909,829,003,511.75
09/30/2008 10,024,724,896,912.49
09/30/2007 9,007,653,372,262.48
09/30/2006 8,506,973,899,215.23
09/30/2005 7,932,709,661,723.50
09/30/2004 7,379,052,696,330.32
09/30/2003 6,783,231,062,743.62
09/30/2002 6,228,235,965,597.16
09/30/2001 5,807,463,412,200.06
09/30/2000 5,674,178,209,886.86

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd...

So your article contradicts itself.

Noe go collect that $500 if you can.

[Vet]

Maybe it's "Cool" to be a liberal, but who is going to pay for it..???!!!!! Obama may be "Cool", but he has & is spending money we do not have..!!! However, we might as well get used to it, as the Liberal, has been re-elected..

[NormalFlora]

Because being liberal means, among many other things, that you are considerate of others' beliefs, respectful to women, conversant in science, and open to other opinions.

[CATTLEPROD]

I noticed "respectful to women" am I supposed to respect them JUST BECAUSE they are a woman? If thats the case, can I get some respect just because I am a member of the new minority, white males? And "open to other opinions". I thought the liberal opinion was the only one that mattered. Bill maher and his kind love to get a token conservative not to give a differing opinion but to take abuse for a half hour. The liberal mantra: "you can do it your own way if it's done just how I say".( james hetfield).

[WMCOL]

Again? Liberal has always been the right thing to be.

[VisionVI]

The reactionary right-wingers call me a liberal

*I refuse to pretend that racism and sexism no longer exist, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe that "market forces" are some magical panacea, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe cutting the military from being able to blow up the world 10 times over down to only 8 times over is a bad thing, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe family means a man ruling over a wife and kids, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe that money magically trickles down from the rich, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe giving a mother food stamps to feed her kids is a waste of money, while buying the air force a billion dollar bomber it doesn't want isn't, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe cutting the taxes of the rich helps the poor, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe Rush Limbaugh has talent on loan from God, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe that the profit motive creates virtue in people, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe that might makes right, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe the government should control women's reproductive choices, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe that single mothers are necessarily bad parents, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe only northern Europeans have culture, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe a union worker making $17/hr is overpaid while a CEO making $1 million/year is not, so they call me a liberal.

*I refuse to ignore the long history of oppression, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe teaching children about cultural diversity is wrong, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe the only good jobs are ones where someone else is skimming off a profit, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe Americans are inherently superior to other nationalities, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe homosexuals are evil, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe non-Christians are evil, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe liberals are subhuman monsters, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe that things are black-and-white, so they call me a liberal.

*I don't believe their lies, so the reactionaries call me a liberal.

The more they talk, the more being called a liberal sounds like a compliment.

[CommonSense]

It's ironic they say only northern Europeans have culture and then chastise northern Europeans for being "too liberal".

[commonsense51]

Is it cool to be a Liberal? Hmmm, I guess not because they have tried to lose the word and now be called "Progressives".
Ahhh, Progressive, the word suggests progress correct? In their new age politically correct world, it is progress to support Partial birth abortions until George Bush finally banned the hideous infanticide procedure. In the progressive's world it is progress to force every american to pay for abortions regardless our feelings about killing unborn babies. In their world we should not be allowed to own guns. In their world we should be forced to buy health insurance because we should all be paying in to the collective, into their version of what our healthcare should be. In their world we should be living under the mandates of the United Nations(who are so corrupt it is a joke). I could go on and on speaking to the controlling nature of progressives but you all know it to be true. It is sickening the very people who for decades convinced Americans to fear Christians in office, are now the biggest control freaks we've ever had in office.
You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig. You can change the name Liberal to Progressive, but you are still a closet Socialist who believes Government should run our lives, that we ignorant people who cling to God and Guns need to be controlled.

[jessejaymes]

The Conservatives claim the Liberals take my money to give it to the lazy shiftless poor who refuse to carry their own weight. They are right. The Liberals claim the conservatives take my money to give to the rich who are already living like Kings and they are right. Stealing is stealing and all both sides do is sit and squabble about which side steals the most for their side. I'm sick of you both.

[RobertJHarsh]

Just labeling people...the media like to do that. Filler article.

[jessejaymes]

A true story. I was playing in a band that was going into Canada for 12 weeks. Our drummer got caught with 15.00 worth of hashish in the sweatband of his hat. They took our truck, two vans, sound and light equipment, all instruments and every dime we had and sent us walking from the border back to the tiny border town of Blaine Washington.

For three weeks I washed dishes in a restaurant and slept in a booth and showered with the sprayer from the dish washing station to get enough money to get a guitar and amp.; We all did something similar (except the drummer who we don't know where he got off to). We got a gig in a small bar and worked our way back to Los Angeles bar by bar and started over.

That's the America I know and want to be a part of. If you can't wash dishes to survive then you need to die. If you can't earn your money by putting out a better product then you need to go out of business. This is a welfare nation. Welfare for the poor, welfare for the rich. Subsidies for all concerned. Now over 65 I have never collected welfare, food stamps, disability, workman's comp and not one single week of unemployment. I would rather eat out of a dumpster than take handouts. But the rich and poor alike suck every dime I make to this very day. I have HAD IT with both conservatives and liberals. When I die I've already paid for my casket and plot. A pox you all.

[jamie91]

Deliberately playing devil's advocate here, but as you were sleeping in a booth rent free you were taking a handout from the guy who let you sleep there.

[Romney2012]

Because more Americans are brainwashed!

[Republican5001]

As a republican, I don't see any benefit to being a liberal.