There is no truth-in-labeling act to ensure that the press correctly describes people in public life. Politicians used to be called by riper names than they are now, but even in these more discreet days labels can hurt. Gerald Ford is conservative, yet in his confirmation hearings preferred to style himself conservative fiscally, but "moderate on domestic issues."
Jimmy Carter? His acceptance speech, he said, "not inadvertently shifted back and forth between liberal and conservative, but I think it was uniformly populist in tone." Is he a populist? "I think so." But what's a populist? "I'll let you define that."
These days...
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