Liberal is NOT a Dirty Word

"What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label liberal? If by liberal they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government and who is unconcerned with the taxpayers dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of liberal. But if by a liberal they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a liberal, then Im proud to say I'm a liberal."

-- John F. Kennedy
Sept 14, 1960