Do Republicans have a bad definition of "liberal"?

Question

I can only think of 3 liberals in Government off the top of my head and one of them is a Republican Presidential Candidate...

Nancy Pelosi (who is becoming less so by the minute)
Barney Frank
and Ron Paul

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are not liberals by any stretch of the imagination.

I'd estimate that only about 20% of their voters would call themselves liberal... I am one of them.

I support some far-left policies on environment, gay rights and religious freedom.
- I think gays and mormons should be able to marry any way they want.
- I believe that a 0 tolerance policy should be made on companies that exploit natural resources in America to fund their overseas businesses.

There is no position on Iraq that would be considered "liberal" by its correct definition.
Also - Socialism and Liberalism are different.
I subscribe to both (to some degree) but not all liberals do.

So why do Republicans say "liberal" when they just mean "democrat"?

Answer 1

Yes. These people don't even know the difference between socialists and liberals so the difference between a Democrat and a liberal is way too hard for them. That's not to be rude, just factual.
Also what they mean when they say liberal has little to do with real liberals or even real people. Liberal is a cardboard stereotype they don't like and that's everything that's wrong with the world.

The problem with conservatives isn't the everyday conservatives themselves; it's the people they listen to. Conservative leaders, in their vilification of liberals, tell so many lies about what liberals are supposed to believe, support, say, do, etc., that the everyday conservatives end up hating a fictional enemy. If what the pundits said about liberals was true, I'd be a hardcore conservative.

If liberals were so terrible, these pundits and politicians would have no reason to lie at all. They could just recite facts and let them stand for themselves. Instead they take part in character assassination and avoid speaking about actual issues. They make blanket statements that have no basis in fact. What's worse is that many of them cloak their rhetoric in a pseudo-Christian guise to act as if God is somehow on their side (even though the Bible basically tells them to pray quietly and stay out of politics).

Virtually all of the lies that are told about liberals are easily shattered with the barest attempt at rationality and reason. The facts stand for themselves, yet so much mud is slung that the facts are like gems buried under several feet of mud. The facts are there, and are obvious and clear, but unfortunately one must dig through all the crap that is spewed in order to bring them to light. When one digs a handful of it away, the pundits are expert at piling on even more crap, or more often, will distract and divert away from the digging.

Answer 2

Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich are liberal, and I don't believe for a minute that Nancy Pelosi ever was. I don't know anything about Barney Frank, and while Ron Paul is the only decent Republican candidate, he is not a liberal either. Blueridgeliving is correct, when she said that they listen to people like O'Reilly, Hannity, Coulter, and Limbaugh, and that is where they hear liberals demonized. But, they truly have no clue what a liberal really is. If they try to demonize REAL Liberals, then they also have to demonize the Dalai Lama, and I would like to see them try! There is no way to legitimately demonize the Dalai Lama, therefore there is no legitimate way to demonize liberals, because liberal views are almost identical to the Dalai Lama's views. Not all liberals are democrats either. I am an independent Liberal Progressive, and when I took one of those tests that determine where you stand politically, I was placed extremely close to the Dalai Lama, and that is something to be very proud of! *sm*

Answer 3

People use liberal like it is a dirty word. but it is not. I am proud to be a liberal. However, your classification of Ron Paul as a liberal is incorrect. Ron Paul is a conservative, and he is far more conservative than any of the republican candidates. Conservatives believe that the government should not handle anything, rather that the free market takes care of it. Ron Paul, if elected president, has promised to cut all government agencies, from the Department of Education, to the IRS, the the FBI, to Homeland Security. He wants government to be as small as possible, which is the major conservative belief.

Answer 4

Because they don't know the definitions of any of the words they sling around. They just repeat Rush and Coulter.

Answer 5

Youre right shes a commie socialist, But its the same on both sides, Why do liberals say republican and not conservative

Answer 6

But there are democrats that do the same with the word conservative. not all republicans are conservative - the one's who are not conservative are actually closer to the party's roots.

Answer 7

I consider Paul a Libertarian... Pelosi and barney I agree... Hillary prefers Progressive.. But she is a socialist...

Answer 8

rush has taught them it's a "dirty word" so when they use it, they really don't even mean "Democrat."

They mean "scum-sucking lying dirt bag maggot."

You know - the way Hitler used to talk about the Jews?

It's a "demonizing tactic" used to fight your "enemy" and make them less than human.

Answer 9

We use the terms liberal and democrat interchangeably because it gets tiring to write liberal democrat.