Know your political terms

Dear Editor:
What is a liberal? What is a conservative? A rightist? A leftist? The majority of Americans do not know what these terms mean.
I knew a middle aged woman who said she was voting for a candidate because he was a rightist. I asked her what a rightist is. She said, “A rightist is someone who is righteous. A leftist is lop-sided, odd ball, like a left handed person.”
Here are the definitions in a nutshell:
Liberal – someone who wants to try something new.
Conservative – someone who wants to leave things be or the old way of doing things was better.
Rightist – another way of saying a Conservative.
Leftist – in the United States one who believes government should become involved in the needs of its citizens. The New Deal is an example, National Healthcare would be another.
These are the definitions of those words tossed about on all the political discussion shows as they relate to American politics. “Knowledge is Power!”

Paul Chandler

© 2000, Newspaper Media Group