Labels are Helpful

There was a letter to the editor in the Wichita Eagle this Sunday (Aug. 29) titled “Vote for Person,” and the letter was a lament that some people were complaining that Raj Goyle, 4th Congressional District candidate in Kansas, is not saying in his ads that he is a Democrat. The author of the letter concluded that it would be nice is all candidates dropped labels so that the people would vote for the person, and not the party.

While I agree that the candidate himself should be as, if not more, important than his party affiliation, I still think party affiliation is important. While a label may not tell you everything, and may even be deceptive, it does provide a starting point by which a candidate’s statements can be analyzed. For instance, the statement, “I want to balance the budget,” can mean, “I want to raise taxes,” if spoken by a tax-and-spender (usually located in the Democratic Party) or “I want to cut spending,” if spoken by a fiscal conservative (usually located in the Republican Party and some third parties).

As for as Raj Goyle goes, it was ironic that right above the previously mentioned letter was another letter to the editor titled “Who is Goyle?” This letter pointed out that not only is Goyle’s party affiliation not mentioned anywhere on his website, neither is the fact that he once worked for the ACLU. See, if Goyle let everyone know that he is a Democrat, we wouldn’t be surprised by the fact that he once worked for the ACLU. So labels can be helpful.