Just months after winning the 2006 elections by fielding centrist candidates, Democrats are embracing a crop of presidential contenders who are more liberal than their Republican counterparts are conservative.
“The American people chose the politics of the vital center,” declared Rep. Rahm Emanuel, chairman of Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, after engineering a rout of Republicans in November.
But three months later, Democrats have anointed a trio of staunch liberals as their top tier of candidates for the party’s presidential nomination in 2008.
New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama each have 95 percent liberal ratings from Americans for Democratic Action (ADA). Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards had an ADA rating of 88 percent for his Senate term that ended two years ago, but has since moved noticeably to the left.
By contrast, the top three Republican presidential contenders are having difficulty convincing their party’s base that they are sufficiently conservative.
Sen. John McCain of Arizona has long feuded with conservatives over tax cuts, campaign finance reform and his friendly relationship with the mainstream media. He has an 80 percent conservative rating from the American Conservative Union (ACU).
The ACU has not ranked former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney or former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, but both Republicans fall well short of being considered staunch conservatives.
Giuliani supports abortion, gay marriage and gun control. Romney acknowledges that he recently changed his position on abortion from pro-choice to pro-life.
“We don’t have any real conservatives — certainly not in the first tier,” said ACU Chairman David Keene. “But the Democrats have some real liberals. I mean, the idea that Obama is somehow moderate is an incredible statement that can only be taken by the most naive as serious.”
ADA National Director Amy Isaacs acknowledged that “the Democratic base definitely wants at least a leaning liberal nominee.” But she challenged the notion that the Republican field lacks conservative credentials.
“The fact that McCain is not considered conservative enough is just hysterical to me,” she said. “He’s not rigid. But he’s definitely very, very, very conservative.”
Still, 47 percent of Americans consider both McCain and Giuliani to be “moderate,” while only 29 percent feel that way about Clinton, according to polling by Rasmussen Reports. On the other hand, both Edwards and Obama are seen by Americans as more moderate than Romney.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, conceded that the top Democratic presidential contenders have been somewhat successful in portraying themselves as moderates. This is partly due to the media’s focus on Clinton’s refusal to fully repudiate her 2002 vote for the Iraq war.
“I don’t think the public is sufficiently in tune with the fact that they may be as far left as they actually are,” he said. “That will come into focus later.”
Pawlenty, who is supporting McCain for president, said that if conservatives insist on holding Republicans to “a purity litmus test … we’ll have no candidates.” He predicted the GOP would eventually embrace a candidate with the right blend of “purity and electability.”
The more ideologically pure Democrats could have smooth sailing during the primary elections, which are dominated by liberal voters, but then suffer during the general election, when centrist voters wield greater clout.
“If one of the Republican candidates emerges from the field, say for example Senator McCain,” Pawlenty said hopefully, “his ability to be attractive to independent voters will be very helpful in the general election.”
