Nothing is more common in conversation with people I meet than them telling me, unprovoked, as if some disclaimer is needed, that they are "somewhat conservative," only to find out they favor gay marriage, think their taxes are fine, want more gun control, believe we need to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan and support funding embryonic stem cell research but they're not liberal.
While this may appear to be an issue of semantics, it matters. The liberal vs. conservative associations, election-after-election, hold very strongly.
It leads to not-insignificant portions of the electorate voting against their own personal beliefs to support a candidate that they've been convinced - based on hyperbole and rhetoric - is aligned with them politically.
It's just not the case.
David Pakman of Northampton, host of "Midweek Politics with David Pakman,"
writes a monthly column. He can be reached at radio@midweekpolitics.com or through http://www.midweekpolitics.com
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