The 2008 Republican primary revealed America’s severe conservative bias. I remember watching the debates, each nominee arguing about how he was the most conservative candidate, clamoring to prove how he was the most like Ronald Reagan. It was like a bunch of third-graders bickering over who gets to be the red Power Ranger.

John McCain’s claims of Reagan-esque conservativism are only now under criticism. Still, this is not a topic of discussion in debates or TV ads, as being conservative is not seen as negative in the U.S.

On the other hand, “liberal” is a bad word in America. Hence, having “the most liberal voting record in the Senate” is an attack against Barack Obama, while labeling McCain a rabid conservative is a compliment. If you’re a liberal politician in America, you threaten to destroy our blue, white and very red reality with your dangerous forward-thinking convictions.

Republicans are not ashamed of their beliefs. According to the party’s platform, America was built to be a conservative nation. We are best when we honor the (dubious) Judeo-Christian heritage of our nation’s founders, when we have little or no taxes and few government programs, and when we are backed by a powerful military.

Announce that your vision of the ideal America is of a liberal nation, however, and you’ll be charged with the most grievous of sins — being a socialist or a communist. Democrats talk about the issues, and their stances are liberal by definition, but they’ll never fight over who is the furthest left.

Sen. John Kerry was conscious of this bias. When questioned about abortion, rather than passionately defending his staunch pro-choice position he’d begin by praising the pro-life stance as respectable and understandable. He’d add his own opinion at the end of his statements, as though he barely believed it himself. The media perceived it as disingenuous flip-flopping, and it was.

Obama, should he win the election, will not only bring change to the government, but also to the Democratic Party. He will have won the White House because he sold to voters his perspective of the United States. He is delivering the liberal message, calling it simply “change” and “hope.” It isn’t as scary as people thought.

An Obama victory will validate the left as politically viable, will de-vilify liberalism and end the Republican monopoly on patriotism.

If Obama loses, it means that American citizens are not ready to embrace naked liberalism — they still need its philosophical bits covered up. It will also mean that Americans are not ready for change, nor, sadly, for hope.

Shaun Poust is a freshman journalism major. E-mail him at spoust1@ithaca.edu.