Belief vs. Opportunity

I just read a Washington Times article which talks about how the Democratic strategists are recommending to the candidates that they move more towards the center. Specifically, they want the candidates to take more moderate, or even conservative, stances on such issues as gun control and abortion. Essentially, they want to co-op the Republican position on these issues to make them at best, a non-issue in the upcoming elections.

Politically, this is probably a wonderful short term move. But for the health of our nation and our political system, it is a huge mistake.

They aren't looking at move towards these new found positions out of conviction or reasoned belief. It is simply a matter of political expediency. A lie, if you will.

I realize that basically all politicians lie. I'm not that naive or pollyannish. But this is a lie on a different scale. This isn't a case of breaking a promise or of cutting a backroom backscratching deal. This is a flat out denial of core beliefs, a denial of who they are. How can you possibly vote for the person who will best represent you, when you don't even know who the candidates really are; what they really stand for?

By denying their core values and by lying about who they really are, they would only foster more distrust of the system than there already is. It's bad enough that we now assume that politicians are lying about promises to "work for their constituancy" or to "bring more money home for us." With this new degree of lying, we'd have to worry about socialists getting elected under the guise free-marketeers. We'd have to worry about appeasement pacifists getting elected as warmongers. All because the one position is more popular.

I really don't have a problem, per se, with someone being an appeaser, or a socialist, or anti-gun - so long as they're honest about it. I want to know what your positions truly are so that I can determine whether or not I'm going to vote for you based on that. Where I have a problem is where you deliberately mislead me on the major underpinnings of your belief system simply to get elected. That is just wrong.

I really hope that we don't see too many candidates trying to pull this off. Daschle has already done so voting to limit gun manufacturer's and retailer's liabilities and by voting for partial birth abortion because it was time to move on. If a position is truly important, truly a position of conviction, then there is no time to move on - that only comes when the position is one of expediency.

I can respect a person of conviction when they're opposed to me. I cannot stand a person who stands with me, simply because it is the path of least resistance.