I know there has been a lot of discussion of the "Moral Values" vote and the consensus seems to have settled: this issue didn't cost John Kerry the election. I don't want to rehash this debate too much, but I think it is also clear that "Moral Values" wasn't the issue that was going to win Kerry the election either.
I bring this up because I have come to believe that for all of the "Most Liberal Senator" rhetoric (which I never believed), Kerry was nomitated and ran on a predominantly centrist platform and record.
I came to this conclusion a few days ago while responding (vigourously) to a poster on another message board (see below).
There have been a number of calls for the Democratic party to "run to the right" in the past few weeks, but I think the party has done that at the national level, and without much success.
I think that the problem is not that the candidates' positions are too liberal, but that a significant number of voters are either unaware of the candidates' positions or simply disbelieve them.
How can the Democratic Party reach those who are disinclined to listen to or accept the party platform?
This was the post that sparked my ire:
The democratic party/liberals are inconsistent with it's standard for judging what is deemed "moderate" and "tolerance". Where are the pro-life, pro-gun, pro-marriage, pro-business, pro-faith democrats? They are very few if any. The liberal position is as follows, as you as you agree with the liberal platfrom lock, stock and barrel then you are a "moderate", "tolerant", "loving", "peaceful" etc etc. As soon as you disagree with the liberal position your a "Hate-Monger", "Religous Zealot", "Bigot" etc etc. Where's the consistency here?
And this was my response:
I hate to dive in to this because you (not Conservatives or Republicans in general, you specifically and personally) are being persistently and willfully obtuse.
Now that's out of the way, to provide supporting evidence for that ad-hominem attack.
"Where are the pro-life, pro-gun, pro-marriage, pro-business, pro-faith democrats?"
Let's look at a favorite bogeyman, John Kerry.
John Kerry is pro-life. His position is that an abortion which is necessary to save the life of the mother or one which terminates a pregnancy caused by rape or incest is an acceptable moral choice. Thus he refused to vote for an outright ban. If you watched the 2nd Presidential debate, you would know this. This is a moderate position, in the middle between abortions for all and abortions for none.
John Kerry is pro-gun. He owns guns. He hunts, as you may have seen on the news. He has even killed a man in combat, with a gun. He opposes making it easy for criminals acquire guns, especially assault weapons. This is a moderate position, in the middle between no guns for anybody and heavy artillery for all.
John Kerry is pro-marriage (I assume you mean anti- gay marriage). John Kerry doesn't believe that marriage should be between anyone but one man and one woman. He doesn't believe that the Constitution grants the Federal Government the authority to legislate this (which it doesn't), nor does he believe it should. He believes it is a matter that should be left to the states. If you watched the 2nd Presidential debate, you would know this. This is a moderate position, in the middle between gay marriage available to everyone and gay marriage available for no one.
John Kerry is pro-business. He proposed a tax reduction for the vast majority of small businesses. He proposed reforming health care to make it more affordable for small businesses to provide it to their employees, reducing the overall cost of hiring. He also proposed increasing the minimum wage. If you watched the 2nd and 3rd debates or read an analysis of his proposals, you would know this. This is a moderate position, pro-small business with some concessions to workers, but not pro-big business.
I'm not even sure what pro-faith is supposed to mean, but I'll give it a shot.
John Kerry is pro-faith. He attends church regularly (far more frequently than the President incidentally) and believes that government should fulfill the Christian doctrine to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and cure the sick. [I think this is justifiable by the "promote the general welfare" clause in the Preamble to the Constition, but I don't know Sen. Kerry's position on this] He does not believe that his faith should be imposed on those who do not share it by Government fiat. If you watched the 2nd and 3rd Presidential debates, you would know this. This is a moderate position, in the middle between atheistic government and theocratic government.
So in conclusion (finally), the problem is not that there are no moderate "pro-life, pro-gun, pro-marriage, pro-business, pro-faith democrats". They are out there, plain as the nose on your face, and you refuse to see or acknowledge them. Hence, I conclude that you are being persistently and willfully obtuse.