"In the old days, liberals were suspicious of executive power and viewed it grudgingly while conservatives were inclined to view it broadly," he said.

But more recent liberals like McGovern, Ted Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and Walter Mondale viewed things differently.

Margaret Wertheim, herself an atheist, also weighed in, contending that liberals should view Harris's account of religious faith "with considerable skepticism".

When Californians voted to outlaw the use of race in public-college admissions, liberals viewed it as the end of both affirmative action and the quest for equal education for poor minority students.

If they were honest with themselves, however, conservatives would view the Clinton presidency the same way many liberals now view the Reagan years.

Many reformists and liberals viewed meddling by the monarchy in politics as deleterious.

Many liberals and religious minorities view the court's jurisprudence on separation of church and state over the last 50 years as a bedrock principle of American life.

Many liberals view as self-destructive the congress's continuing willingness to turn the economy into a battleground through sanctions, political strikes and boycotts.

This decision deeply polarized Ecuadorian politics, as liberals generally viewed the Church as an obstacle to social and political progress.

In contrast, liberals of various party allegiances viewed the same body rather as a Pioneer Corps to shore up and renovate Britain's derelict constitutional edifice.