| Triangulation (politics) |
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ORIGINS DURING THE CLINTON YEARS The term was first used by President Bill Clinton's chief political advisor Dick Morris as a way to describe his strategy for getting Clinton reelected in the 1996 Presidential Election . Morris advocated a set of policies that were much more liberal than those of the Republican Party , but were also different from the traditional policies of the Democratic Party . These policies included Welfare Reform and Balanced Budgets . The strategy proved successful, and Clinton was reelected in 1996 . USE AFTER BILL CLINTON Triangulation was emulated during the 2000 Presidential Election in the Bush campaign's use of the term " Compassionate Conservative ". Subsequent Republican Party campaigns were seen to deviate from this message, however, and put more focus on appealing to "base" voters with so-called Wedge Issues . WEAKNESSES OF THE STRATEGY Triangulation can alienate the base of a political party since party activists will not see the candidate as truly believing in their cause. Triangulation can also make a candidate and his opponent seem too similar and leave voters undecided. Triangulation can also backfire when a candidate does not have the Charisma for the intended audience to believe that his position on an issue is an honest one. When this backfire happens, the candidate can easily be labeled a "flip-flopper" or a "waffler". An example of this would be John Kerry 's speeches during the 2004 Presidential Election that explained his views on the Iraq War and Gun Politics . |