One size does not fit all...

[kentuck]

You have to know your people that you are running to represent. You do not have to surrender any of your positions - you only have to frame it so your people understand it. For example, if you are "pro-choice", that does not mean you are "pro-abortion". It means you believe that women have the choice to determine what they do with their own bodies. It is a constitutional right. You believe there should be no abortions at all, but you are not so arrogant to try and tell women what they should do with their own bodies. You think government should move out of our bedrooms.

If the people you are running to represent are very pro-gun, you do not have to support full gun-control to prove you are a "good" Democrat. It is OK to say that you support our Constitution, including the 2nd Amendment. However, it is also OK to say that people with criminal records and people that might be mentally unstable should not be permitted to buy a weapon. There is nothing radical about supporting some sort of identification process. It is irresponsible not to try and protect our children and innocent people from some maniacal killer with mass murder on his mind.

[RKP5637]

1. A core problem today is many judge most things in a strict binary sense of yes/no. And many areas

are in fact gray areas, not a simple yes/no. Sadly politicians who take gray areas are perceived by some as weak and that is a grave fallacy and is a significant shortcoming in today's society. What you've said makes a tremendous amount of sense! Politicians need to campaign on gray areas with careful phraseology. I think they could be quite successful.

[brer cat]

2. Same is true regarding our President.

When Michelle Nunn and her father, former Senator Sam, spoke here this fall, both said "I do not support everything President Obama does." Not another word about him, just a discussion of what was important to her. That leaves a lot of area open for the people to fill in the blanks if they are so inclined, but doesn't tie the candidate down to anything at all. If she had come here bad-mouthing PBO, the liberals would have tuned her out. If she had praised him, the conservative would have driven her to the county line and kicked her out. It was the best way to handle it, imo. She lost anyway, but c'est la vie in a red state.