Mallard Fillmore

[Bill Palmer]

This is the title of a rightwing political cartoon, which for unknown reasons, is carried in the comics section of the Raleigh News & Observer.

It is dull, unoriginal, and unfunny. However, in a strip last week, the character made the valid point that "conservative" political candidates brag about their conservative position, and include it in their campaign ads, whereas liberal candidates avoid public mention of their liberality.  They don't even use "progressive" in referring to themselves, altho when some characterization is unavoidable, they will generally use that term.

So the point is, and please excuse if this has already been examined in this list, how did "conservative" come to mean "self-reliant", "courageous", "dependable", and liberal to mean "devious", "weak", "untrustworthy", etc.?

Bill Palmer

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