How Disconnected is the Stereotypical Liberal

I am a Democrat. I admit it freely and I have appreciation for the days when liberal was not a dirty word. Lost however in that sentence however is the fact that liberal means something different today than it did in years and decades past. Under FDR liberal meant that the government could intervene if necessary to try to make sure we did not have twenty percent unemployment, that government could take on projects like the TVA, and that social security was a program that would be beneficial to most Americans.

Recently we are all seeing and hearing some of the far right candidates for President. They make Romney look good don't they. And as Obama sinks lower in lower in the polls it becomes a legitimate concern that he may not be reelected and that one of these folks will. It seems unlikely that someone like Rick Perry could withstand the scrutiny of a full campaign but then again we did elect George Bush and comparatively Barack Obama. Let's face it Americans do not do a great job in choosing their political candidates.

So with this backdrop let me tell about a lunch my wife and I had with a friend of hers from high school. Her friend lives in Colorado is in her late thirties and has never been married. She is active in liberal politics in the Boulder area and works for a non profit which helps poor folks manage their health and dietary needs among other things. She is a sweet person, a good friend to my wife and a gem of a person. Her boyfriend who accompanied her works as an activist from home setting up targeted campaigns against businesses who do not follow ecologically sound practices. They have no children but do love their dogs.

In an of itself this is not a problem and again they are good folks. The problem is that this is the stereotypical liberal and frankly it is tougher to sell to Middle America and independents than a right wing conservative who believes in extreme law and order and has a problem with the division of church and state.

The lives of these liberals do not relate. The lives of a conservative have many things in common with you and I.

Our lunch partners had a debate at lunch about tuna. He worked for Greenpeace to cut tuna nets which brought up many other fish indiscriminately and thus would not eat tuna she advocated tuna as a food that her young mothers she helped could eat and provide strong amounts of protein for the price.

This is an actual debate they have. Cute isn't it.

She at least had a foot in the real world. He was living out the teenage dream of being an activist. Speaking of working on Greenpeace ships he talked about how they had shut down some various fishing activities and how they had showed them. I did not have the desire or poor enough manners to tell him that it seemed highly likely that all of the activities of he and his Greenpeace friends amounted to a gnat on the hide of an elephant. I do not dispute their passion nor the basic goodness of their motives but to fool yourself that your activities are making a significant difference is to do just that...fool yourself.

An argument could be made that with all the issues to help the country with perhaps these folks need to take a reality check and realize tuna is not anywhere near the center of concern. It does not mean their concern is wrong, it just means that it is far from the center.

I look at it this way I have a Republican friend, my best friend and if I were to meet a conservative friend of his I would most likely mot agree with them perhaps say on gun control issues. I would however understand his dislike of taxes, his concern on crime and his concern for his family and children. These folks were he to meet them would never get past the " weenie" test. They spend time debating the merits of tuna, they do live in reality about how the average family lives day to day and without a doubt considers it all a little beneath them.

This is a small capsule of why the Democratic party has a hard time in national elections. The average person who might agree with them on many issues cannot relate to them as people.