The Honest Liberal

See this from today's New York Times, quoting Charles Black on the 1988 Presidential race:

"Lee [Atwater] figured out early on that Dukakis was what we used to call an honest liberal. That he would defend his positions on things like the death penalty."

George McGovern was an honest liberal too. With that in mind, read this article and note this section:

While one may disagree with George McGovern's liberalism, in contrast to Senator Daschle, McGovern seems ever more principled in comparison. In the run-up to his 1980 reelection contest, McGovern ignored the pleas of some advisors to tack right and stuck to the basic tenets of Great Society liberalism. In 1977, McGovern assumed the Presidency of Americans for Democratic Action, the group formed after World War II to implement the liberal agenda and which measured whether politicians were true to the liberal cause. McGovern also worked with Bob Shrum and other advisors to position himself as the liberal alternative to President Carter in the 1980 primaries (he only stepped aside when Ted Kennedy entered the race). Despite Senator Clark of Iowa being dubbed the "Senator from Africa" for his extensive foreign travel during his unsuccessful 1978 reelection bid, McGovern also took a month-long tour of Africa against the advice and pleading of his chief of staff. He also toured Cuba with Castro and met with a prominent gay rights group in California, becoming the first Senator to do so. McGovern's chief of staff said it was becoming impossible for McGovern to persist with his "dual track" strategy of maintaining his national liberal base for another Presidential run and preserving his reelection chances in South Dakota. By sticking to his liberal principles McGovern lost his Senate seat.

Daschle has always been very cognizant of McGovern's defeat and is trying desperately to avoid his fate. His campaign in South Dakota is based upon de-emphasizing the national party, avoiding association with liberal icons, promoting his "clout" and his ability to secure federal bacon, and promoting the image of a bipartisan compromiser. In South Dakota, Daschle also brags about how he votes with the Bush administration 80 percent of the time and how he supports the war in Iraq. Daschle is trying to use his conservative Democrat campaign model from 1978 to win in South Dakota in 2004.