Obama: Liberalism is the new conservatism?

Begging folks not to label him liberal, Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama is hoping to avoid the “L” word by calling labels outdated. Obama hopes that by ascending to the office of president, he can set the terms of debate and thus wipe away the traditional definitions of partisanism and left-right politics. Muddying the waters of political definitions is apparents the new men’s fashion.

Unfortunately, Obama is missing the point; right and left are not defined by a small set of contemporary issues that you can make go away by “setting the terms of the debate” as president. They are long-standing differences of opinion on how government should function.

Any idea that expands federal power and bureaucracy is, by definition, liberal. It is of the camp that sees big government as the solution to social ills and problems. And any idea that reduces the size and scope of federal power is, by nature, conservative.

Those are definitions that won’t disappear no matter who is president, Senator Obama.