Let's Call Ourselves Traditional

Language counts. A lot.

Nothing undermined the central position of the Democrat Party more than allowing "liberal" to become a dirty word. (Those of us who were active in the New Left have to shoulder a lot of blame on this; we made it an epithet a long time before Republicans did. I've said it and I'm moving on.)

I'd love to bring back "liberal," but I fear that it's going to remain tainted for quite some time. When I heard NPR on election night saying something like "most of the committee chairs are going to be liberal Democrats," contrasting the chairs-to-be with the recently elected House members, I could hear the wedge being driven in.

So if we can't call ourselves liberals without harm, what do we call ourselves?

What term can we use over and over again, with so much force that it sticks? Something which can be as forceful and ubiquitous as "Ms," a coinage which at first seemed nearly ridiculous until it become standard?

How about Traditional Democrats?

Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, John Conyers, and Henry Waxman are Traditional Democrats.

Traditional Democrats take their inspiration from FDR and the New Deal, from the Kennedys, from Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement. Traditional Democrats believe in both social and economic justice. Traditional Democrats are, at base, Constitutional Democrats (it just doesn't have the same ring). The Constitution - and, most specifically, the Bill of Rights and the Civil War Amendments - is both our touchstone and the thing we most wish to protect, (This is actually the greatest difference between Traditional and Conservative Democrats, who, like all true conservatives, are most protective of non-governmental institutions like the military, schools, and churches.)

And while we're at it, let's start talking about Traditional Republicans as well.

Liberal Republicans can't get elected. Traditional Republicans can.

Lincoln Chaffee got this a little too late when he opposed making John Bolton's appointment permanent. Had he broken with the Administration more often - had he voted more often like a Traditional Republican - he might still be in office. We want to encourage people like Christopher Shays and Olympia Snowe to think of themselves as Traditional Republicans. We're going to need their votes on social issues; we need them to understand that the only way they can keep from going the way of Chaffee is to split themselves off from the Administration. We want to encourage their Constitutionalist tendencies.

As for the extreme right-wing who have taken over the Republican Party, what to call them?

How about Rove Republicans. It's pejorative; it's divisive; and it's something no one these days wants to be.