Mallard Fillmore

[Dan Goodman]

Bill Palmer wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Bill Palmer <w_a_palmer at BELLSOUTH.NET>
> Subject:      Mallard Fillmore
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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.?

Not universally true.  In the Minneapolis neighborhood I lived in a few
years ago, campaign postcards for DFL (Democratic-Farmer-Labor)
candidates consistently said "[Candidate] is a social progressive and a
fiscal conservative."  The occasional one from a Republican would say
"[Candidate] is a social moderate and a fiscal conservative."

Where I live now, postal campaign ads are more elaborate.  And they
sometimes include details which suggest that candidates don't see a need
to cater to conservative voters; for example, a photo of the candidate
with his husband.



--
Dan Goodman
"I have always depended on the kindness of stranglers."
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Expire
Journal dsgood.dreamwidth.org (livejournal.com, insanejournal.com)

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