GOP consultant Arthur Finkelstein married his male partner, according to the New York Times. Someone else can dissect what all that means. But what I loved is this sentence:

Mr. Finkelstein, 59, who has made a practice of defeating Democrats by trying to demonize them as liberal, said in a brief interview that he had married his partner of 40 years to ensure that the couple had the same benefits available to married heterosexual couples.

I’ve heard this formulation about Finkelstein’s (and Atwater’s and others’) tactics many times. It always fascinates me. Demonize them as liberal. This is a great example of how liberalism is in trouble. Why should it be bad — never mind “demonizing”! — to be called a liberal if being liberal is good? The first task for a political movement is to be proud of its own label. Second, is to make others think they might be proud to wear it too.

Relatedly, it really is remarkable how leading liberal politicians switch into a song-and-dance about how they don’t believe in labels whenever they’re asked the very simple question “Are you a liberal?” The Kerry-esque response is invariably “Oh, I don’t believe in buzzwords and labels” or something like that.