Hillary is not a "liberal" -- that has come to mean "big government," you see. She is a progressive -- a "modern" progressive, no less. What in the world would an "old-fashioned progressive" be for, I wonder?
Her short answer was no, but after giving a brief history of the word going back to the 19th Century (individual freedom, being against big power) she added that it had come to be identified with "big government" in the past "30-40 years." She prefers the term "modern progressive." She said it had a more "American meaning, going back to the progressive era at the beginning of the 20th century," an apparent reference to the "Progressive Party" founded by Teddy Roosevelt in 1912 when he split from his own Republican Party. "Liberal" is now un-American.
This was all a very devilish answer, and I mean that as a compliment whether or not she wears Prada. Here's why:
It was in his 1996 State of the Union speech, 15 months after Republicans regained the House of Representatives for the first time in four decades, that Bill Clinton proclaimed "The era of big government is over."
It was smart of Bill to crib the Republican message back then (it got him re-elected), and Hillary signaled in the YouTube debate that she'll do the same in '08.
You can't change who you are by changing what you call yourself. And no sentient person can listen to Hillary and not claim she doesn't stand for big government. So do all the other Democrats, of course. And don't get me started on the Republicans. They talk a good "small government" game, but they haven't exactly ruled that way. The era of proclaiming the "the era of big government is over" should be over.
Boy, do I sound bitter or what?
