"common good"

The term "common good" is being used "to describe liberal values and reach religious voters who rejected" Democrats in the 2004 presidential election. The use is being led by the Washington think tank Center for American Progress and "party activists [who] hope the phrase will do for them what 'compassionate conservative' did for the Republicans," the Associated Press's Rachel Zoll reported October 16, 2006.

"'It's a core value that we think organizes the entire political agenda for progressives,' said John Halpin, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. 'With the rise of materialism, greed and corruption in American society, people want a return to a better sense of community&mdash;sort of a shared sacrifice, a return to the ethic of service and duty'," Zoll wrote.

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * U.S. congressional elections in 2006
 * U.S. presidential election, 2008