and was pilloried for it....
from The Daily Howler
<snip>
In May 2000, the RNC and the national press were on Phase 307 of their War Against Gore; during this phase, they were attacking Gore for being too nasty-and-negative (see THE DAILY HOWLER, 12/2/04). In a ludicrous page-one piece in the New York Times, James Dao quoted Moynihan complaining about the naughty way Gore had criticized Bush’s proposal for Social Security:
DAO (5/5/00): Even some Democrats seem to think that Mr. Gore's attacks occasionally go over the top. On Wednesday, Mr. Gore accused Mr. Bush of devising a "secret" Social Security "privatization" plan that would bankrupt the system. Today Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a New York Democrat who supports investing some of the Social Security trust fund in private markets, took issue with the word "privatization."
"That's a scare word," said Mr. Moynihan, who supported Mr. Bradley in the primaries but has since endorsed the vice president.
May God have spared Gore such “endorsements!” Indeed, a few weeks later, Moynihan penned an op-ed piece in the Times, described the plan for partial privatization which he and Senator Bob Kerrey had authored. Once again, he made his fatuous claim about what such plans should be called:
MOYNIHAN (5/30/00): It would be unforgivable to label this "privatization." But it has already begun. These savings accounts are being referred to in New York Times reporting as "partial privatization."
But duh! Such plans were being referred to as “partial privatization" because proponents of such plans had used the term “privatization” for years! (See link below.) But by the time of Campaign 2000, political hacks had learned from focus groups that such plans fared better with the public if more pleasing terms were used. In recent weeks, Marshall has instructively described the way Republicans have played the fatuous “change-the-name” game. You also should know that one cranky old Democrat played this stupid game as well—and that he even played the game against his party’s candidate.
<snip>
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