If, as President Bush claims, John Kerry is the “most
liberal” member of the United States Senate, what does that
imply? For one, it implies that Kerry is something of an
ideological extremist, a throwback from the days when the solution
to every social problem was a new entitlement program and the cure
for every failing program a larger allocation of funds.
From the president’s perspective, Kerry’s
unflinching adherence to the liberal agenda is like ideological
blinders, obscuring him from the mounting evidence that liberal
policies simply do not work. It is important to note, however, that
Bush’s characterization also implies that Kerry is consistent
in the opinions that he expresses.
Consistently liberal and consistently wrong, to be sure, but
consistent nonetheless.
At the same time, Bush claims that Kerry
“flip-flops” on the issues. This is a rather odd claim
if you take a moment to consider what that means.
If Kerry is a flip-flopper, he must lack a guiding principle or
core set of values around which to organize his beliefs.
Flip-floppers are inconsistent by definition.
Now, ask yourself this question: How can the “˜most liberal
member of the Senate’ also be a flip-flopper? He cannot. The
two qualities are mutually exclusive.
For those of you who are still deciding how to vote, having this
information does not make your task any easier. As Kerry cannot be
both, the question you need to answer is this: Which is he? A
flip-flopper or an ideological extremist?
There is no way to answer that question definitively because
virtually everyone who has staked out an opinion on the issue has
an ulterior motive for doing so.
But all is not lost. The report issued by the National Journal
““ the very same report that identified Kerry as the
“most liberal senator in 2003″ ““ provides
information to help answer that question. For example, the report
notes, “After winning election to the Senate in 1984, [Kerry]
ranked among the most liberal senators during three years of his
first term. “¦ In those years ““ 1986, 1988, and 1990
““ Kerry did not vote with Senate conservatives a single time
out of the total of 138 votes used to prepare those
ratings.”
The report continues, “Kerry had a perfect liberal rating
on social issues during 10 of the 18 years in which he received a
score, meaning that he did not side with conservatives on a single
vote in those years.”
Though these findings lend credence to the characterization of
Kerry as an ideological extremist, they do not support the claim
that Kerry is a flip-flopper.
The report also states, “During Kerry’s second term,
from 1991 to 1996, he dropped back into the pack of Democratic
senators and voted more moderately. “¦ Kerry was especially
moderate in his second term when it came to foreign-policy issues.
He opposed the liberal position in key Senate showdowns on
missile-defense and intelligence spending in 1993 and on
procurement of additional F-18 Navy fighters in 1996.” The
president never mentions that part of the report in his campaign
speeches.
Nor does he mention the reports finding that “Kerry also
voted with “¦ congressional Republicans, but against many
liberals, in favor of welfare reform in 1996, and he occasionally
split from organized labor on workplace issues.”
Bush continues to give speeches identifying Kerry as the most
liberal member of the U.S. Senate despite the fact the very report
on which he is relying provides compelling evidence to suggest
otherwise.
The president will continue to rely on discrete pieces of
information in the report that substantiate what he already
believes and will disregard any evidence to the contrary.
Why would he do such a thing?
Force of habit, I suppose.
Gussin is political science graduate student.