The GOP Rests on Ideologically Shaky Ground

ArgumentsEveryone is a Liberal. http://www.ncpa.org...The history of liberalism draws back to the Enlightenment of the 17th century. Most Americans, regardless of political affiliation, would find that this "classical liberalism" is pervasive in today's society:Basically, classical liberalism is the belief in liberty. .. People have rights apart from government, as part of their nature. .. The only legitimate purpose of government is to protect these rights. People who call themselves classical liberals today tend to have the basic view of rights and role of government that Jefferson and his contemporaries had. Moreover, they do not tend to make any important distinction between economic liberties and civil liberties. Interestingly enough, this definition of "classical liberal" fits very well with the definition of "modern conservative", i. e. GOP ideology, I linked in round #1, with an emphasis on limited government, individual rights (civil liberties), and economic liberty (free markets). ---Even more interesting is how a "classical liberal" departs from modern liberalism: Twentieth century liberals believed that it is not a violation of any fundamental right for government to regulate where people work, when they work, the wages they work for, what they can buy, what they can sell, the price they can sell it for, etc. In the economic sphere, then, almost anything goes. At the same time, 20th century liberals continued to be influenced by the 19th century liberalism's belief in and respect for civil liberties. .. By the end of the century, people had far fewer economic rights than they had at the beginning. But they had more civil rights. The main point of departure is economic liberty; what the NCPA is describing here in modern liberalism is socialism, i. e. government control over the economy. However, in all other respects, the classical liberal and the modern liberal also have much in common. ---Such "liberal" usage of "liberal" and "conservative" becomes confusing in the current political environment, where liberals are typically seen as diametrically opposed to conservatives. However, in reality, modern conservatives are actually diametrically opposed to socialists. Modern conservatives are actually quite liberal in their beliefs. --- So why this debate? I contend that classical liberalism is the middle ground, the true moderate belief - after all, self-proclaimed modern liberals AND modern conservatives share these beliefs. However, the GOP cedes this middle ground every time they demonize "liberals". Like it or not, we live in a sound-byte culture. Politicians usually get 10 seconds of airtime, if they're lucky, to make a statement that will make the nightly news. In those 10 seconds, everyone demonizes socialism, no question it's a dirty word in the US. However, the GOP goes a step further and demonizes liberalism, too. Hillary Clinton "lamented that the word 'in the last 30, 40 years' has been 'turned up on its head' and 'made to seem as though it is a word that describes big government. '" Hillary has positioned herself as a moderate here, a classical liberal. . http://articles.chicagotribune.com...This is what I deem to be the GOP's "ideologically shaky ground". Republicans are liberals too, just not socialists. Every time they demonize liberalism, they demonize the very foundations upon which this country was founded. This is semantics, yes, but with such limited air time, such short sentiments are all that typically get aired. It brings about confusion as to exactly what is the GOP position, and cedes the middle ground (classical liberalism) to Democrats like Hillary. All Republicans are left with is defense, abortion, guns, and religion, hardly an all-encompassing, viable strategy going forward.