Re-branding the Left

Rick Moran, writing at the invaluable American Thinker, describes the frantic rebranding efforts of the American left.

Hillary Rodham Clinton was asked this summer if she would describe herself as a “liberal.” The Democratic front-runner shied away, saying the “word” — noticeably not using the word — has taken on a connotation that “describes big government. “I prefer the word ‘progressive,’” she said. It has a “real American meaning.”

Then she expanded the term to “modern progressive,” and, finally, clarified that she was a “modern American progressive.”

And that seems to sum up the Democrat's dilemma. A recent Gallup poll found 40% of Americans identifying themselves as Democrats but only 23% proclaiming themselves "liberal... Contrast that with only 30% of Americans identifying themselves as Republicans but fully 39% of the country saying they are conservative...

Best I can tell, the bumper stickers over the years would look something like this.

2000


2004


2006


2007


2008


Cross-posted at Doug Ross @ Journal