Opinions please

[Laelth]

6. Here I walk on thin ice.

I think it's entirely acceptable, as a Democrat, to argue that the legality of abortion ought to be a matter decided by the states rather than by the Federal Government.

That said, we live in a nation where the Federal Government has made a definitive ruling on the subject, and that's the law of the land. It's decided until Roe is overturned, and the states are quite limited in what they can do about it.

I have argued here and elsewhere that the left has already won most of the great social issues of the day. Frankly, these are not the ones that concern me most. It's the economic issues that hold us together as liberals, and that's why I have such little tolerance for 3rd-way types.

Here's what I said in 2009:

It's the economic issues that make us liberals.

But on all the significant social issues in America, the left has already won. We just haven't seen all our cultural victories translated into law yet, but we will. Republicans keep hammering these wedge issues, but they seldom act on them when they have the chance. They controlled the federal government between 2003 and 2006. They could have outlawed abortion, if they wanted, but they didn't. They know they have already lost that argument. Only their rabid base, a small and dwindling minority in this country, would support such a measure. The vast majority of the country is "socially liberal." That doesn't make them all our political allies.

As for foreign policy, while that's very important, I don't see a clear liberal/conservative distinction. I see differences between various administrations, but I don't think these differences are shaped by either classic liberalism or classic conservatism. Isolationism has often been considered a conservative position, for example, but the Bush administration wasn't isolationist at all. In fact, their aggressive foreign policy philosophy has been called "neo-liberalism." Ultimately, I am uncomfortable describing myself as either liberal or conservative on foreign policy. I just don't find those labels to be particularly useful.

So, because we've already won on the social issues, and because "liberal" and "conservative" are not terribly useful in describing people's opinions on foreign policy, I return to my assertion that it's the economic issues that matter. Whether people have homes, whether they have jobs, whether they can afford health care, whether our economy collapses, and whether people can afford to feed their families ... these are the issues that really matter. These are the issues most often affected by the laws passed in Congress. These are the areas where we most often disagree with Republicans. And it is on these issues where politicians show us whether or not they are liberal. The words "liberal" and "conservative" have real and profound meaning in the context of these issues.

Of course, the Republican Party is in dire straits. We have always has conservatives in the Democratic Party, and the Democratic Party will continue to attract more conservatives as the Republicans dwindle. We have to accept that fact, for the moment, but I will continue to reserve the word "liberal" for those politicians who show an inclination to act on behalf of the less fortunate in regards to the issues that matter most ... the economic ones.

Obviously, ymmv.

-Laelth