Still Surprised

I heard it again, just the other day. An argument I've written about so many times my regular readers are probably tired of it. But I'm still surprised every time I hear it.

The argument goes like this: Give someone a choice between a real liberal and a conservative pretending to be a liberal and he'll choose the real liberal every time. Sometimes the argument is the same with "conservative" and "liberal" switched. (I am claiming this works about equally well in both directions. Both sides figure it only works in one direction, which is part of how they're fooling themselves.)

There are many factors that sway voters, some political, some not. But if voters want you to be "liberal" on an issue, if you don't at least make a move toward them, they're more likely to reject you, so it can pay to be a "pretend" liberal. And if voters really want "conservative" values, as conservatives claim, then why in the world would they choose a "real liberal" over almost anything else? "He'll ruin the country, but at least he honestly believes in what he's doing."