Is America moving back towards the left?

[JohnT]

Given that political moods in America swing appx. every 20 years and that the current conservative tone of American politics began in 1981, good money is on the next 20 years seeing a general shift to the Left (as Americans define it, of course. You socialists and communists can just go on dreaming. ).

Also, don't forget: buy low, sell high.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Guynemer
I think only a great fool would deny that the country has moved towards the right overall in the past few years; what I'm getting at is if that shift has ended, or even reversed in the past couple months.

I would say that the country has moved right for the past few decades.

I don't know if there's so much a shift to the left as the liberals have finally come out of their torpor and realized that playing the nice guy isn't getting them anyway. They need to adapt the Repugs tactics to succeed, not their politics. There has been a hunger for a long time for someone to out-Rush Rush, and liberals have finally found their attack dogs: Dean, Franken, Moore, Ivans, etc.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by monkspider
It depends on who you ask, liberals will say yes, conservatives will say no. The correct answer? Yes.

Which of course has nothing to do with the fact that you are a liberal

[Q Classic]

Left and right...

Isn't there a third way? Surely there must be some American political writers who are able to elevate above it all and pass judgment on all concerned, or maybe get deep down into the really dark and labyrinthine excesses of the political mind?

It seems to me that all they are doing is providing an alibi for themselves by proxy. The proxy being the political opponent, which then becomes a mirror-image upon which thoughts are cast and then reflected back so as to legitimize beliefs.

well, i'm sure there are. it's just that they don't really get heard, because moderation doesn't sell.

in any case, all those superpartisan pundits are *******s and wrong.

[nato]

I think things are still moving towards the right. I think maybe things like the recent ruling on abortion from the Supreme Court is a better indicator than the best seller list. My worst example is that my egg cartons still say "God Bless America" on them. My dairy products are both patriotic AND religious!

Eventually they will go too far and things will swing back, but I don't think it will be for a while. September 11th is going to make this right wing period last longer and be more intense than usual. As long as they have that for a pretext they will be able to get a lot of their agenda done.

[Lefty Scaevola]

The nation moves neither left nor right, the only hcange is the proxies that we Illuminati choose to run it.

[Ned]

How can one seriously discuss this issue without referencing what happened recently in Democratic "Kali"-fornia.

[Saint Marcus]

Isn't there a third way?

Wim Kok, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair

[Case]

Originally posted by nato
My worst example is that my egg cartons still say "God Bless America" on them. My dairy products are both patriotic AND religious!

Urm, I don't think that you should be eating the 'eggs' cows produce

[Odin]

The country is moving right because of the rise of Christain Fundimentalism in the bible belt and pecause people are too stupid to figure out that taxes have a purpose, the morons. The Right also tends to use populist tactics such as patriotism to woo the mindless idiotic masses called Suburbia. You can really see this happening in Minnesota, the mindless masses are taking over the suburbs of the Twin Cities. I expected My state Senator Roger Moe to kick Tim Palenty's ass in the election for governer last fall, I was horrified when Palenty won and started to cut education spending because he would veto any tax increase on the rich.

[Kuciwalker]

The Right also tends to use populist tactics

Odin, the Communist, deplores populist tactics

[:) Smiley]

The country is getting more left, you're just getting older

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Gatekeeper
I'm still waiting for a good book by a moderate who lays utter waste to both the liberals and conservatives. (In a humorous way, of course.)

Gatekeeper

Unfortunately there is nothing funny about moderation.

As for the question at hand, it's hard to measure the country as a whole. Recent polls seem to suggest that older people are moving more to the left, while young people are a lot more right wing than is generally assumed. My feeling is that the left is getting more fired up, but I don't know whether that is going to translate into an increase in their political power overall, or instead is going to alienate others and reduce it. They could well flash in the pan like the Republicans did after 1994. They lost ground despite continuing to ride a long standing demographic trend which was favorable to them.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Odin
The country is moving right because of the rise of Christain Fundimentalism in the bible belt and pecause people are too stupid to figure out that taxes have a purpose, the morons. The Right also tends to use populist tactics such as patriotism to woo the mindless idiotic masses called Suburbia. You can really see this happening in Minnesota, the mindless masses are taking over the suburbs of the Twin Cities. I expected My state Senator Roger Moe to kick Tim Palenty's ass in the election for governer last fall, I was horrified when Palenty won and started to cut education spending because he would veto any tax increase on the rich.

With you as their spokesman, how could the left go wrong? The American people cannot help be persuaded by your logic, the idiots.

[Guynemer]

Originally posted by Ned
How can one seriously discuss this issue without referencing what happened recently in Democratic "Kali"-fornia.

I chalk up California to this old, infalliable adage--

No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. No one ever lost an election that way, either.