The media has McCain castigating Obama as being a 'liberal'. Yet, if you understand 'liberalism' and look at the Republican stance, then McCain should be claiming to be more liberal than Obama. Please read the links for yourself.

According to Wikipedia, liberalism is "a broad array of related ideas and theories of government that consider individual liberty to be the most important political goal. Modern liberalism has its roots in the Age of Enlightenment. Liberalism rejected many foundational assumptions that dominated most earlier theories of government, such as the Divine Right of Kings, hereditary status, state religion, and protectionism.

Economic liberalism, first formulated by Adam Smith and others, supports free markets and free trade as the best route to peace and prosperity. Pioneers of liberal economic thought developed theories on how the invisible hand and spontaneous order lead to prosperity, provided that at least minimum standards of public information and justice exist, e.g., no private citizen should be allowed to coerce or steal, though this is not to be confused with goverment interferance where your income and possessions can be appropriated for the good of the economically disadvanted. Private property and individual contracts form the basis of economic liberalism.

Cultural liberalism focuses on the rights of individuals pertaining to conscience and lifestyle, including such issues as sexual freedom, religious freedom, cognitive freedom, and protection from government intrusion into private life. ..."

So, watch the change log for that entry (the page is already being 'vandalised') as the Republican Party tries to re-write what I think it is itself, yet labels its political opponents as being in a bad light.

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Peter