America Is a Center-Left Country No Matter How Much the Corporate Media Say Otherwise

[one...two...tree 2,762]

(edited for length)

By Joshua Holland

The American people are center-left (or at least firmly in the center) on the primary matters over which government presides: taxation and debt, public services, the regulation of the economy and America's role in the world.

But that hasn't stopped a lot of bloviating to the contrary. Only moments after the networks declared Barack Obama the winner of a dramatic realignment election, William Bennett, the conservative icon, declared on CNN that "America is still a center-right nation, no matter what anybody says."

Implied was that it also didn't matter what exit polls, mountains of public opinion data, shifts in partisan identification and changes in the country's demographics say. That stuff's apparently for the "reality-based" community to worry about.

Reality: an Election Day poll by the Center for American Progress and the Campaign for America's Future asked whether Republicans had lost because they were too conservative or not conservative enough. By a twenty point margin, voters chose "too conservative", including independents who agreed by a 21 point margin. Seven out of ten said they wanted the Republicans to work with Obama and "help him achieve his plans," while fewer than a quarter of respondents thought the GOP should try to keep him from implementing a progressive agenda.

That didn't prevent conservatives, desperate to spin a shellacking at the ballot box, from insisting that the contrary is true. House Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) wrote a letter to his despondent — and shrinking — GOP caucus insisting that "Democrats should not make the mistake of viewing Tuesday's results as a repudiation of conservatism." And Republican Senator Jim DeMint (North Carolina) had the chutzpah to say that the lopsided election results only proved that "the American people agree with our ideas..."

These are nonsensical talking-points, but as journalist Matt Taibbi told Bill Maher at the height of the campaign, "You can run just about any bullshit up the flag pole, and the mainstream media will simply stand there and salute it, and repeat it seemingly within minutes."

That a great number of pundits did exactly that, immediately taking up the question of whether the U.S is center-right, is just more evidence that much of the traditional media's analysis of American politics is utterly worthless, and should probably just be ignored out of hand.

After all, there's a good deal of hard data (as we'll see below) showing that Americans lean left on most substantive issues. But it's also a matter of common sense. During the campaign, the Republicans called Obama a socialist, clunkily accused him of being a "wealth redistributor" and held up Joe the Plumber as an example of the burdens small businesses like Exxon-Mobile and JP Morgan would have to bear under an Obama administration. In other words, they made this election explicitly about ideology, and Obama kicked their collective ###.

Again, that brutal beating took place mere moments before the blathering class started gazing into their navels in search of evidence of our center-right essence.

Of course, it is true that our friends in Western Europe, Canada and other liberal democracies scoff at our puritan tendencies on sexual matters. If America's reaction to Janet Jackson's infamous flash of ####### or the widespread perception that the entertainment media are unbearably smutty were legitimate proxies for ideology, then it might be fair to say that we lean rightward. The only issue over which progressives got creamed this year was gay marriage.

It's also true that because of our history, and some unfortunately vague text in our Constitution, there are a good number of Americans whose guns can only be pried from their cold, dead hands. And, finally, we're a heterogeneous, tribal country, and that leads to some resistance to various government programs not seen in wealthy democracies in which most of the population shares a similar ethnic background.

But on health care, trade, international diplomacy, corporate regulation, workers' rights, retirement security, environmental protection and most other matters of substance, the country is pretty clearly in the progressive camp.

.........

The problem with this was ably summed up in a recent column by political scientist Paul Waldman arguing that "on just about everything, it's the progressive position that is more popular":

People who know a lot about politics -- like journalists -- assume that ordinary people have the same interpretation of [the terms "liberal" and "conservative"] as political junkies have. But the truth, as nearly a half-century of political science research has made clear, is that a significant portion of the public has little or no idea of what these terms mean in the political world. A third of the public

can't even tell you

which of the two major parties is the "conservative" one.

So, while many Americans may not like those durn liberals, a significant majority of the electorate fully supports the center-left agenda advanced by the liberal wing of today's Democratic Party, with the exception of a few issues of God, guns and gettin' it on.

This should be obvious; the flip-side of Waldman's assertion is that two-thirds of Americans do know which party is more progressive, and not only did Obama just repaint the electoral map running on the most progressive platform in 15 years, but Congressional Dems surfed their second consecutive "wave" election.

But the hard data back up the obvious. Let's review:

• As Robert Borosage of Campaign for America's Future, wrote of the his group's poll (PDF), "When asked why they voted for Obama, the leading reasons were his proposals for withdrawing troops from Iraq, cutting middle class taxes first, providing affordable health care, and his commitment to invest in education and make college more affordable. When those who voted for Obama were asked about their doubts about McCain, picking Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin led the list, but fear that he would give tax breaks to the rich and big corporations came in second, followed by the notion that he would continue Bush's policies."
• A number of polls in recent years have shown that Americans favor raising the minimum wage by about a 4 to 1 margin
• A poll commissioned by Time Magazine in July, found that a "notable trend is the emerging popularity of environmental regulation as an economic imperative. Stricter pollution limits and tax credits for alternative energy development were supported by 84 percent of all respondents, the highest of any proposal. Increasing the minimum wage, expanding public works projects were nearly as popular, with 83 percent and 82 percent approval respectively."
• It must have hurt the Wall Street Journal's editorial staff to report that 62 percent of Americans said "The government should tax the wealthy more." According to a Pew Poll, the same number favored either repealing all of Bush's "temporary" tax cuts, or at least those skewed towards the wealthiest. Only one in four said that Bush's cuts should become permanent.
• Summing up the findings of a post-election report released by Public Citizen that found that there had been a net increase in Congress of at least 30 seats by "fair trade" supporters, Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch division, said, "The 2008 election was a veritable tipping point for fair-trade issues, which just reinforces what polls have increasingly shown: The public has had it with the current race-to-the-bottom trade and globalization model, and they voted against those who support it and for those who say they will replace it."
• A poll by Hart Research (PDF) found that voters in 7 crucial battleground states favored the Employee Free Choice Act -- pro-union legislation detested by the corporate right -- by nearly a 3 to 1 margin.
• In response to the first round of 'center-right' country blather after the 2006 midterm sweep, Media Matters compiled a moutain of data on the issue, including:
  • By a 23-point margin, Americans say the government should "provide more services/ more spending" rather than "cut services/ cut spending."
  • By a 34-point margin, Americans agree that we "need strong government to handle complex problems" rather than believing the "free market can handle complex economic problems without government involvement."
  • Americans agree with the idea that "government should reduce income differences" by a 12-point spread.
  • According to a Gallup Poll taken last spring, 5 percent of Americans said corporate taxes were too high, compared with 71 percent who thought they were too low
  • According to a report from the nonprofit polling group Public Agenda and Foreign Affairs magazine, "When respondents were asked to rate a series of strategies for the degree to which they would strengthen the nation's security, the top-ranking moves were "Improving the effectiveness of our intelligence operations" (with 63 percent saying it would enhance our security a great deal) and "Becoming less dependent on other countries for our supply of energy" (55 percent). Only 17 percent said "Attacking countries that develop weapons of mass destruction" would enhance our security a great deal, the lowest-scoring strategy in the group. Forty-two percent said "Showing more respect for the views and needs of other countries" would enhance our security a great deal."
  • According to Gallup, on the question of military spending, "43 percent [of respondents] say we are spending too much, compared to 35 percent who say we are spending the right amount, and only 20 percent who say we are spending too little."
• A Pew poll conducted just prior to the 2006 election found that, by "a 45% to 32% margin, more Americans believe that the best way to reduce the threat of terrorist attacks on the U.S. is to decrease, not increase, America's military presence overseas."
• According to an ABC News/ Washington Post poll conducted in June, Americans, by more than a 2 to one margin, thought "providing health care coverage for all Americans, even if it means raising taxes" was more important than "holding down taxes." According to a May poll by Quinnipiac University, 61 percent of Americans thought it "the government's responsibility to make sure that everyone in the United States has adequate health care," while 35 percent disagreed.
• And, of course, as it has been since the program was launched by FDR, a significant majority of Americans like their Social Security just the way it is; a CNN poll conducted last month found that Americans opposed partially privatizing the program -- a key conservative proposal -- by a 26-point margin.

Center-right country, indeed. The reality is that if it weren't for the social issues and racist dog-whistles, conservatives would have a hard time running for dog-catcher outside of a few rock-ribbed regressive enclaves.

The take-away for thinking people is that while the corporate media performs an absolutely vital function in reporting the basic facts of our electoral contests -- who the players are, where they're appearing, what they're saying and all the minutiae of fund-raising and other matters of process -- most of their analysis is utterly ridiculous.

All the more reason that it's high time we simply start ignoring the punditocracy.

http://www.alternet.org/election08/106276/..._say_otherwise/

[Danno 1,228]

Center-left??

We may get there one day but only by means of a huge imagination are we there now.

I might remind you, Barack is only the second Democrat to win the White House since 1976.

(and it cost him nearly a billion (with a "B") dollars)

Think about that.

Edited November 11, 2008 by Danno

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Center-left??

We may get there one day but only by means of a huge imagination are we there now.

I might remind you, Barack is only the second Democrat to win the White House since 1976.

(and it cost him nearly a billion (with a "B") dollars)

Think about that.

The author spelled it how he's making the argument. Are you saying, that on issues such as health care, the war in Iraq and environmental protection, American's lean more to the Right?

[dalegg 143]

Center-left??

We may get there one day but only by means of a huge imagination are we there now.

I might remind you, Barack is only the second Democrat to win the White House since 1976.

(and it cost him nearly a billion (with a "B") dollars)

Think about that.

The author spelled it how he's making the argument. Are you saying, that on issues such as health care, the war in Iraq and environmental protection, American's lean more to the Right?

Two words-- Proposition 8

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Center-left??

We may get there one day but only by means of a huge imagination are we there now.

I might remind you, Barack is only the second Democrat to win the White House since 1976.

(and it cost him nearly a billion (with a "B") dollars)

Think about that.

The author spelled it how he's making the argument. Are you saying, that on issues such as health care, the war in Iraq and environmental protection, American's lean more to the Right?

Two words-- Proposition 8

Well the claim that America is Center Right is just inaccurate and while certainly there are issues that across the board, Americans lean to the Right on, but on the issues that Obama's campaign ran on and his subsequent victory shows that Center Right just doesn't fit. I've said before that I think most Americans just aren't ideologically rigid - they are willing to try most ideas and policies provided they bring the results they promise, otherwise Americans quickly abandon those ideas for different ones...which is what Obama's change was all about.

[HAL 9000 96]

Meaning most Americans are not stuck in the Cold War.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Meaning most Americans are not stuck in the Cold War.

Yep. The Right tried to make this election about ideology and they continue to work that narrative - the American People are Center Right. It's pure bullsh!t, but I suppose that's their best argument after 8 years of failed policies. Too bad the American People didn't buy that line this time around.

[Dan J 277]

Center-left??

We may get there one day but only by means of a huge imagination are we there now.

I might remind you, Barack is only the second Democrat to win the White House since 1976.

(and it cost him nearly a billion (with a "B") dollars)

Think about that.

The author spelled it how he's making the argument. Are you saying, that on issues such as health care, the war in Iraq and environmental protection, American's lean more to the Right?

Two words-- Proposition 8

On economics, the right lost this election big time. As far as economic issues are concerned, we are moving to the left.

Social issues seems to be a mixed bag. Some right favored ballot initiatives passed, and so did some left favored ones.

[HAL 9000 96]

Meaning most Americans are not stuck in the Cold War.

Yep. The Right tried to make this election about ideology and they continue to work that narrative - the American People are Center Right. It's pure bullsh!t, but I suppose that's their best argument after 8 years of failed policies. Too bad the American People didn't buy that line this time around.

I just find it amazing how some folks try to equate a decreasing moral and socioeconomic criterion in this country with the changing demographic towards a more liberal national agenda. All the while denying any connections between a morally hypocritical and socioeconomic criterion that creates massive disparities along the corridor of time- leading to the well-known problems we have in this country now as well as the contribution to international problems including but not limited to problems in illegal immigration. Oh and global warming.

[Danno 1,228]

Meaning most Americans are not stuck in the Cold War.

Yep. The Right tried to make this election about ideology and they continue to work that narrative - the American People are Center Right. It's pure bullsh!t, but I suppose that's their best argument after 8 years of failed policies. Too bad the American People didn't buy that line this time around.

My friend, in your first line you prove how "out of touch" you are.

"The Right" was never involved to any great degree in this election.

Do you really think John McCain represented "The RIght"?

I think you are mistakenly reading waaay to much into Obama getting elected.

Yes it means something but not nearly as much as you are hoping.

As for left or right leaning,,, my guess is Center, certainly not center-left... not yet any way.

[Dan J 277]

Meaning most Americans are not stuck in the Cold War.

Yep. The Right tried to make this election about ideology and they continue to work that narrative - the American People are Center Right. It's pure bullsh!t, but I suppose that's their best argument after 8 years of failed policies. Too bad the American People didn't buy that line this time around.

My friend, in your first line you prove how "out of touch" you are.

"The Right" was never involved to any great degree in this election.

Do you really think John McCain represented "The RIght"?

I think you are mistakenly reading waaay to much into Obama getting elected.

Yes it means something but not nearly as much as you are hoping.

As for left or right leaning,,, my guess is Center, certainly not center-left... not yet any way.

When first ran for the nomination, his politics were much more centrist and did not really emphasis with some of the social conservative positions. But over the campaign, his positions move much more to the right in order to placate the most conservative part of the party.

Again on social issues, we are now more center than center right. On economics and foreign policy we have move to the left of center.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I think all the shrieking over socialism says otherwise to be honest.

The people I've met here generally seem to be center-right on most issues (except perhaps for healthcare), though there is an obvious difference in attitude between older and younger generations.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Meaning most Americans are not stuck in the Cold War.

Yep. The Right tried to make this election about ideology and they continue to work that narrative - the American People are Center Right. It's pure bullsh!t, but I suppose that's their best argument after 8 years of failed policies. Too bad the American People didn't buy that line this time around.

My friend, in your first line you prove how "out of touch" you are.

"The Right" was never involved to any great degree in this election.

Do you really think John McCain represented "The RIght"?

I think you are mistakenly reading waaay to much into Obama getting elected.

Yes it means something but not nearly as much as you are hoping.

As for left or right leaning,,, my guess is Center, certainly not center-left... not yet any way.

I'm not delusional about what Obama's victory means other than it dispels the myth that Right Wingers keep thumping their chests about saying that America is Center Right....it's a myth.

What the election says for sure is that on the key issues (health care, the economy, war in Iraq, the environment), the Democratic Ticket was more in step with the American voters. Now I'm not comfortable with labeling one policy necessarily more Right or Left, but for all the fear mongering over Obama's being the 'most liberal Senator' ....the American voters have answered that question. Let's move on now to a more real argument than this ideological fallacy.

Edited November 11, 2008 by Mister Fancypants

[Dan J 277]

Meaning most Americans are not stuck in the Cold War.

Yep. The Right tried to make this election about ideology and they continue to work that narrative - the American People are Center Right. It's pure bullsh!t, but I suppose that's their best argument after 8 years of failed policies. Too bad the American People didn't buy that line this time around.

My friend, in your first line you prove how "out of touch" you are.

"The Right" was never involved to any great degree in this election.

Do you really think John McCain represented "The RIght"?

I think you are mistakenly reading waaay to much into Obama getting elected.

Yes it means something but not nearly as much as you are hoping.

As for left or right leaning,,, my guess is Center, certainly not center-left... not yet any way.

I'm not delusional about what Obama's victory means other than it dispels the myth that Right Wingers keep thumping their chests about saying that America is Center Right....it's a myth.

What the election says for sure is that on the key issues (health care, the economy, war in Iraq, the environment), the Democratic Ticket was more in step with the American voters. Now I'm not comfortable with labeling one policy necessarily more Right or Left, but for all the fear mongering over Obama's being the 'most liberal Senator' ....the American voters have answered that question. Let's move on now to a more real argument than this ideological fallacy.

I think in maintaining the center right myth, the Republicans are creating a argument that they don't have to change their ideology, instead they need a more charismatic leader and better campaign to take advantage of the internet.

But that's really just a self defeating delusion. If the ideology is no longer attractive, even the best salesman wont be able to sell it. At least not without some serious deception.

[*Robert* 2]

I'm good with center!