It?s one of those rallying cries that means almost nothing: ?Small business.? What is a small business? The definition changes drastically depending on the political aims of the person using it. Even though the term conjures up an image of that tiny mom-and-pop bead store on your block that constantly skirts the edge of Chapter 11, it can include so many different businesses as to be meaningless.

The Small Business Administration defines a small business as ?one that is independently owned and operated and which is not dominant in its field of operation.? In other words, not part of a corporate giant, and not the 800 pound gorilla in its field.

This vagueness lets President Bush claim that his tax cuts give an average of $2,042 to every small business owner, when in fact . Meanwhile, another oddity of Bush?s tax cuts lets small business owners deduct $100,000 of the cost of a new SUV, whereas they could only deduct around $10,000 of the cost of a new Lexus. This is a tweak to an old tax break from the 1940s intended to help small farmers buy tractors and pickup trucks.

The point is not just that vagueness about what constitutes a small business lets fat cats roll in dough while genuine mom-and-pops are going under. The real point is that the Republicans have successfully portrayed themselves as the party of small business when they?re really on the side of big businesses. A Democrat who proposed genuinely pro-small business policies, including a change to the Alternative Minimum Tax and an end to double FICA taxation for self-employed people, could position himself or herself as revolutionary, moderate and pro-businesses owners, all at once. And the cost could come out of some of those SUV-sized tax breaks for the big guys.