Normally, I try not to get too political on Triscribe. (I’ll leave the political correspondence to SSW). I would like to think of myself (and I think most Americans would) as being both conservative and progressive (the “in” version of liberal). It’s not a contradiction — it’s a reflection of how the political parties have polarized themselves in such a way that the libertarian “middle class” of political actors are shrinking and are shut out (but are now part of that coveted 4% of the electorate that are swing votes).
Bill Clinton in defending the economic “middle class” made several really good points in his Monday speech. By even the yardstick of Republican values, W really has performed poorly. Fiscal conservative? Blown away the surplus and put us back 10 years. International isolationist? We just knocked over 2 countries, and managed to annoy a dozen others. Libertarianism? How about the Patriot Act and CAPPS II? I’m not yet convinced about Kerry, but he’s better at being a Democrat than Bush is at being a Republican.