This America is a "Center-Right" country bullshit

This is what Joe Scarborough is peddling on MTP this morning. I've been hearing this over and over the last few weeks. I think America isn't Center-Right, so much as the Right has dominated the narrative for the last 20 odd years. When you ask Americans what they want - national healthcare, education, gov't creating jobs - they sound an awful lot like Democratic Socialist?

Does anyone else find this to be BS?

AM radio is far right. The MSM is center-right. The citizens are center-left.

to the left of most of our politicians on the issues, but many get caught up in the wrong labels due to talk radio and the MSM.

Joe ain't got an original thought behind those beady little eyes

Joe is thinking this is 1988.

Joe lived in N. FL, with IS "center right"! He "thinks" the rest of the world "thinks" like him!

He is as dumb as a post.

and each one talked about the radical left's undo influence on America.

The battle after the election will be as big as the election if we want change.

I fully expect that to happen again this time. That while Democrats won, the newly elected reps are "conservative." Uh, Joe et al. - admit you have a problem, that the country has moved well on past that fucking Reagan and all his goons and wannabes.

The problem is how folks define "conservative" increasingly in ultra-right and theocratic terms. Over the last 20 years or so, the "social conservatives" and religious-right have increasingly taken over the GOP and come to define everything on their terms. However, this is increasingly alienating moderates who may be fiscally conservative but don't buy into all this cultural warfare & theocratic nonsense. The GOP is finally melting under this pressure, and i know many of us thought it would start a lot sooner.

America does lean right, but that doesnt mean it supports all the neocon and social conservative stuff.


For younger people who dont see this, just consider the following two points:

1. look at the electoral maps of 1980 and 1984

2. understand that almost every democrat in congress would be considered "conservative" by european standards

Look at the voter turnout. Only the "right" have been consistently coming out to vote since 1980. The total election turnout has been less and less over the years. When you only have 40% and maybe near 50% of registered voters actually voting (and 10% or less doing so in primaries)... where in the past you could get 60% or more, then a viewpoint is not being heard.

by the likes of this rove/bush/cheney spill over. I think Americans are more conservative than many here are able to appreciate i.e. it's conservative to recycle, live within your means, not venture into unprovoked wars half way round the world, support America, conserve her, maintain her, mend her...

All those worthy tenets have been trashed or turned on their ears by these republicans we see before us. The ones that have destroyed this world and are soon to be run out of DC on a rail. Also...

From the cent/whatever L or R, America is better able to tend each side from within a state of balance.

and our democrat in power are all supporters of capitalism, for the most part.

These guys have just taken it to a higher level.

A lot of the worst of American conservatism started in Reagan's time-the anti-environmental policies, using and nurturing homophobia, anti-poor policies etc. etc. Then the big scandals and corruption-Iran-Contr, BCCI...

On social conservatism/homophobia:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/06/08/EDG777163F1.DTL



On the environment:
Reagan had an awful environmental record-James Watt is probably one of the worst heads of the interior we have ever seen.
http://www.grist.org/news/muck/2004/06/10/griscom-reagan/




On homelessness and poverty:

http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/135/reagan.html




Just because a lot of this country is ignorant about Reagan's legacy, doesn't mean that it is in any way a good one. I know these are the days for some Repukes/cons to pretend that barring Bush and Cheney, every other Repuke is pretty much clean and has a great record. The facts simply do not agree with that. Lets not take the bipartisanship meme so far that we are back to where facts do not matter anymore-that is where we have been these last 8 years.

and a B-actor though still able to deliver a line and at least was able, unlike g.w. bush, to saddle his own horse and ride it. I remain unconvinced Reagan believed truly in much of what he spouted beyond the fact that *what* he spouted gave he & Nancy the lifestyle they felt they were entitled to :shrug:

Ignoring the science on climate change, 60% of the country thinks creationism is science etc. We don't have a particularly informed populace in this country at this point in time-though that does seem to be changing.

at least according to self-identifying studies.

propaganda, and voter apathy/malaise among the MAJORITY of the people. So many around this area in the Philly burbs were forced to register repuke in order to even live in their communities and receive services without harassment. And because of this sort of stranglehold, Democrats were hesitant to even run against repuke candidates because of the gestapo tactics, and so the malaise set in.

If you look at the stats, the number of people who have actually registered and come out to vote had dwindled because of the overwhelming propaganda machine that RW hate talk radio and the RW-biased M$M had put in place since Raygun was elected.

But now the real SILENT MAJORITY has awakened and it's a scary thing to the repukes.

Was just thinking the same thing myself.

If we can win an impressive victory in Congress this year, one of the first and most critically important things we need to do is GET BACK THE MEDIA from the FAR RIGHT. Bring back the Fairness Act. PUT PRESSURE on from the GROUND UP by pressuring advertisers on Right Wing hate radio& TV. If people can finally hear the truth, I think we can make some progress on the issues that the majority of Americans actually support.

Of course, President Obama will have a great bully pulpit too. :-)

acknowledgment by the RW that Obama is very likely to win. They want to minimize his mandate to govern. John Meachem and all these other establishment wise men are shifting the focus to how fiscally constrained an Obama Administration needs to be. Suddenly after the excesses of W, the wise men see the necessity of a balanced budget. Obama has the resources and the message to break through this gridlock and have the country's policies accurately reflect America's basic center left orientation on economic matters. We should pay absolutely no attention to the Scarboroughs, Meachems and Broders. We have an historic opportunity to reshape our national discourse. Obama knows this and he is pushing his advantages. Good for him and good for the USA and the world. GOBAMA !!!

All the demographics are going left.

But I don't think the majority of Americans believe what they say anymore.

America is actually very much liberal on the issues, but you said it perfectly - the right has simply controlled the narrative.

The people are center-right on culture war issues, but far to the left from either party on true political issues of economics and power and social organization.

We are distinctly to the right of Europe.

Europe is not fringe leftist, except in the eyes of Americans. And Americans see Europe as leftist because.....

we are a center-right country.


If America is a democratic-socalist nation, as you suggest, then what's an actual democratic-socialist nation called?

And we will prove him wrong on Nov 4th.

Or earlier, if you're voting early.

Every survey finds the country breaks down as roughly 21% self-identified liberals, 32% conservatives, and the rest moderates. So that equates to nearly 80% describing themselves as either moderate or conservative. That equates to a center/right nation. Certainly moreso than center/left, although you could use the counter than 70% refer to themselves as moderate or liberal.

It's the reason Democrats have a tough time busting 50% in a national election. If a Republican were running after 8 years of Democratic presidential ineptitude, he would ride that 32-21 edge to a percentage in the mid to high 50s.

Democrats than Republicans?

Or even worse, he knows better and he's just spewing the party line.

I never watch Joe Scarborough's show, "Morning Joe". Okay, maybe 6 or 7 times, total viewing experience.

Are Most Americans Really Conservative?
Or Should Rectal Noun Re-title Her Book How to Talk to the Average American If You Must?
By Timothy Sexton
Takeaways
Most Americans consider themselves pro-choice.
Most Americans want stricter gun laws.
Most Americans support funding stem cell research.
Ever since Ronald Reagan was elected, we've been constantly told that Americans are becoming more conservative. Republicans, Fox News, and most of the rest of the right-wing mainstream media in American have tried to convince the populace that their views are consistent with the views of those who espouse conservative beliefs. But is that really so? Just how conservative is America? And since the word liberal has taken on roughly the same connotation in America as the word Jew had in Nazi Germany, is it really true that the overwhelming majority of Americans are in lockstep with Rectal Noun's pronouncements that every liberal point of view is stupid? Let's look at some poll numbers from Gallup.
Item 1: Republicans and conservatives (except for Rudy Giuliani) are as dedicated to restricting the right of abortion as Lindsay Lohan is to destroying her once-promising career.
Myth: Most Americans believe abortion rights should be severely curtailed.
Fact: A Gallup poll conducted on June 11, 2007 found that 51% of Americans consider themselves to be pro-choice, whereas just 43% stated they were pro-life. Pres. Bush's appointments to the Supreme Court have already resulted in the restriction of rights to abortion and promise to open the floodgates to challenges to Roe v. Wade. This judicial activism is directly opposed to the wishes of the majority of Americans who, while they support some restrictions on late term procedures, overwhelming oppose the repeal or Roe v. Wade. Of course, the 2000 Presidential election proved that the Supreme Court cares not for the will of the majority of Americans.
Item 2: Conservatives are almost unanimously opposed to providing universal healthcare coverage to Americans. This is in line with the age-old response from conservatives that the government isn't responsible for taking care of its citizens. (And yet when the government needs soldiers to protect the sons of its rich politicians from having to actually fight for their values, you can go to jail if you refuse to be drafted.)
Myth: Most Americans fear a universal healthcare coverage because it would put America on the road to...socialism!
Fact: In a Gallup poll conducted last November, an astounding 69% responded that they believed it is the government's responsibility to guarantee that every American has health care coverage. A paltry 28% believed that the government carries no responsibility in that area. Almost exactly the same number of people who think Bush is doing a good job. Coincidence or not? You decide.
Item 3: Perhaps the most wild-eyed radical belief of conservatives is that there should be no restrictions on the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment. (This is in direct opposition to their belief that should be unlimited restrictions to the First Amendment.) Every American who is not a jailed felon should have the right to own the most dangerous firearms that the good people of Russia can produce.
Myth: Guns don't kill people, people kill people.
Fact: Guns don't kill people, people WITH guns kill people. In January of this year 49% of respondents to a Gallup poll said that gun laws should become more strict.Only 35% said things are just nifty the way they are. The most distressing thing about this poll is that 14% of respondents think guns laws are too strict now and should be loosened. My theory is that those 14% either live in Texas or Montana, or are related to Dick Cheney, the only Vice-President to ever shoot a man in the face while in office. Fact!
Item 4: Pres. Bush's first-ever veto was on a bill to fund stem cell research. (Although, in fact, he had long been line-item vetoing hundreds of bills for years with his broad, and and unconstitutional in the opinion of most constitutional scholars, interpretation of the rights endowed him by signing statements.) Stem cell research is, of course, an issue that is not easy to simplify; unless you are a conservative politician.
Myth: Americans don't support stem cell research because they think it's morally reprehensible.
Fact: A Gallup poll from April of this year found that 60% of Americans support either no funding restrictions on stem cell research or easing the restrictions. By contrast, only 20% support increasing restrictions and just 16% say there should be no stem cell research funding at all. Therefore, and this should come as no surprise, Pres. Bush made the decision to use his veto power for the first time on an issue that would be considered landslide and a mandate if the poll numbers translated into votes. Not that Pres. Bush has ever let the desires of his bosses affect his policy.
Item 5: One could easily make an argument that the greatest beneficiaries of the 9/11 attacks has not been Al-Qaeda, but rather conservatives and Republicans who have made a great deal of hay out of 9/11, convincing the electorate that terrorism is the greatest threat to their lives. Never mind that just today alone more people will die from a lack of health insurance than died during the 9/11 attacks.
Myth: It was in the best interest of Americans to take money away from federal programs that address authentic threats and sink it into the Department of Homeland Insecurity; a Cabinet agency recently found to have the lowest morale and most incompetent leadership of all the Cabinet departments under Pres. Bush.
Fact: A June 11, 2007 Gallup poll showed that 55% of Americans are not all that worried about being the victim of a terrorist attack. Only 43% are very worried or somewhat worried. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. This poll was taken almost six years after 9/11, I'll bet if you go back in time you'll find that Americans have been a lot more worried. Actually, you have to go all the way back to the middle of October 2001 to find a Gallup poll that shows a majority in the worried category. By late October the trend had settled: most Americans don't consider terrorism to a major threat to their life. By February 2002, the ratio was 64% to 35%. Interestingly enough, from April 2002 to August 2004 the figure of those expressing a great deal of worry about a terrorist attack remained in the single figures with only one or two exceptions. From August 2004 through January 2005, however, that figure shot back up to the unbroken string of double digits. And from August 2004 through October 2004, the figure for those who were somewhat concerned about a terrorist attack kept growing larger. I wonder what happened during that period. Hmm. Oh, that's right, there was a Presidential election. But surely that is mere coincidence.
Item 6: What's good for GM is good for America. Conservatives love to espouse their belief that anything that big business opposes is in the best interest of the country. After all, corporate America would never do anything to hurt the economy of America; to do so would be cutting off their nose to spice their bank account.
Myth: Raising the minimum wage hurts businesses.
Fact: 85% of small business owners reported that a raise in the minimum wage would have NO effect on their company. None. Zilch. Nada. Wouldn't hurt them at all. Meanwhile, Americans overwhelming support raising the minimum wage. So here you have the public supporting this issue and the very small businessmen whom politicians opposed to any minimum wage at all say will be hurt by effectively calling them liars. So, then, why did the Republican-controlled Congress never once even entertain the idea of raising the minimum wage and consistently voted it down when the Democrats brought it to the floor?
Item 7: Pres. Bush takes a long time to learn things that most Americans pick up on pretty quickly. It was not until 2005, for instance, that Bush learned America has an oil dependency problem. And he is only now coming around to the learning about global warming. Conservatives continue to push the agenda that global warming is a myth and that it's still a bad idea to take steps to protect ourselves even in the unlikely event that it turns out they were wrong about something...again.
Myth: Most Americans think Al Gore is a jerk and so there isn't really such a thing as global warming.
Fact: 60% of Americans believe that the effects of global warming have already begun. The overwhelming majority believe it is a good idea to change their lifestyle and commit to consumer actions to reduce the effects of global warming by doing such things as buying a hybrid vehicle, or installing solar panels. (On the other hand, the majority remains oppposed to building new nuclear power plants.) While Pres. Bush turns to the guy who wrote Jurassic Park for advice on global warming, most Americans prefer to look at the reports of the 90% of the country's scientist who have declared global warming to be real.
The evidence is far from conclusive. On issues such as the death penalty, civil liberties, and gay rights, the tenor of the country leans more toward the conservative viewpoint. I'm not trying to make the case that America is a hotbed of liberal thinking. Far from it. But this myth that Republicans and conservatives should be the mouthpiece of all Americans because the majority supports their view on issues is as ridiculous as the myth of a liberal media. The figures from these polls clearly suggests, however, that Rectal Noun's advice on how to talk to a liberal applies to most Americans on many of the issues that conservatives hold most dear. And when conservative dupesters like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly cry out that liberals are out of touch, all they are really accomplishing is showing how out of touch they are. The fact is that all these people and 90% of the Republican Party are out of touch with most Americans on the issues of abortion, health care, gun rights, terrorism, stem cell research and a flood of others. And, hard as it may be to believe, the person who is the most out of touch with the desires of most Americans is the guy with the power to give us what we want.
2008 © Associated Content, All rights reserved.


http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/294530/are_most_americans_really_conservative.html?cat=3

but the right is added to the center after over a generation of demonizing liberals, election theft and the resulting stacking of the courts and bureaucracies, both major parties being too center in many way over a long period of time until the GO went off the deep end with gusto, and barely beaten off corporate dominance over the past 120 years or so.