The interview by Hugh Hewitt of Joe Kline was very reveling. Joe thinks he is a moderate (which we all know means he has no convictions which makes him a liberal). On my spectrum of liberal to conservative I would put him between Bill Moyers and ABC News. He thinks he is a moderate somewhere between Ben Nighthorse Campbell and Rudy Giuliani.
The first relevant question is:
HH: Well, I love inside baseball, and this is chock full of inside baseball, and I like its candor. You admit early on you're an old lefty liberal, though you've headed to the moderate center, though I'm skeptical. You can persuade me.
Couple of exchanges later:
HH: That's what we covered last week. I'm going to come back to that. But first, Joe, let's get you centered on the political map for the listeners. You are an old style liberal. You admit it...have you ever voted for a Republican for president?
JK: Well, not really. I think that there's a deal to be made here. You know, I'm pretty much a social conservative on a lot of stuff. I'm certainly opposed to late term abortion, and I think the deal to be made is morning after pill is legal, anything after that probably shouldn't be.
Short answer NO!!
This is one on the liberal side but not fanatic.
This is not conservative as far as Hugh is concerned. So that is two on the liberal side of the ledger, although Joe thinks he has just moved to the right of center somewhere between John McCain and Dick Lamm.
Next question that goes right to the point:
HH: How about gun control? Are you okay with gun control the way it exists in, say, New York?
JK: Oh, I'm totally in favor of gun control.
This puts Joe even further to the left on the spectrum.
Next question.
HH: Okay, but how about drilling in ANWAR? Opposed?
JK: I don't care about it.
This is what is meant by moderate no convection on key issues.
That's four questions, maybe the most important questions, answered all on the liberal side of my spectrum liberal to conservative.
Now Joe knows he's in trouble so he tries to save himself.
JK: No, no. Hugh, in the past year, I've stood for the following things. I've taken the following positions. I agreed with the President on social security reform. I supported his two Supreme Court nominees, and I support, even though I opposed this war, I support staying the course in Iraq, and doing whatever we have to do in order to stabilize the region.
As I see this even in his own defense he still has two marks on the liberal side. So that give us five liberal, three conservative. I believe that Joe thinks he has moved up to somewhere between Rudy Giuliani and Fox News.
Now to the main question from Hugh:
HH: But Joe, we've got about a minute to the break. So let me break in here, though. The assertions you've made about the Bush presidency being in tatters, and Iraq being a disaster, are objective evaluation of facts. Which facts? Not the history of how we got here, but what today leads you to say in tatters, and Iraq is a disaster?
JK: Well, I think Iraq is clearly a disaster, because you're on the brink of civil war there. They can't form a government, and our Army, according to the people I talk to in the Army, is near broken.
As we know now a government has been formed in Iraq and the only person that thinks the army is broken is John Murtha. Two more views that kick Joe over to the left.
Joe likes Presidents immigration plan, and he agreed with President Bush on the Dubai ports deal. That is one liberal ( immigration) and one conservative ?. That's eight liberal, four conservative maybe.
Joe thinks "that the swifties were mostly reprehensible." One more for the liberal column. That's nine liberal to four conservative MAYBE. He thinks Micheal Moore is reprehensible, to liberal but that doesn't put him on the right.
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