Does the "average American" agree with Michael Moore?

[Aqualung71]

As I have the fortunate privilege of being able to view the antics of George W. Bush and his cronies from afar, I'm interested in understanding what real Americans think of the situation both within their own country and it's relationship with the rest of the world, rather than rely on the often outrageous reporting of the US media.....particularly FoxNews and, to a lesser extent, CNN.

[DaShi]

I don't agree with either of them.

[Solly]

From what I can gather, there is no average American.

Their society is quite polarised and rather than being a cause, George Bush II is a symptom of that.

[PLATO]

Polarised? Perhaps within a narrow range. Most Americans agree on most things. Generally we share common goals. The debate is usually how to accomplish them. Michael Moore and Ann Coulter represent two extreme polls, which is why they draw so much press. The truth is that most of us lie in the middle. Their always has been and always will be healthy debate on the issues here. Every four to eight yars of my life I hear how "polarised" we are...if we didn't hear that then their wouldn't be much for the press to cover.

[General Ludd]

The US is such a boring place. Michael Moore, extreme?

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

The problem is that both left and right get the most visibility and most Americans are much more moderate. The appearance of pandering to both far left and far right special interests leaves the moderate middle with the same old conundrum. Which is the lesser of two evils?

30% left
30% right
40% centrist voting for either Kang or Kodos.

OTOH, once in office the same leftist or rightist pandering candidates shift to centrist policies. Case in point Clinton and Bush. And for those who think Bush ultra-right one only need look at the growth of government and tarrif policy.

So to answer your question the answer most likely is no, unless the left is capable of swaying more than 20% of the centrists.

[MikeH]

Michael Moore is a moderate left winger.

The average american doesn't vote.

[Elok]

I second the "there is no average American" sentiment. Ideologically at least, we are a country that values independent thought and going your own way, no matter how stupid or pointless that way may be. I think it might be one of the consequences of overabundant information that we polarize ourselves to be distinct. That, and we vilify agreement. If three people feel the same way about anything, it's just mindless conformity, after all. In a nation of armchair experts, everyone is bound to think Moore is wrong on at least one small portion of his beliefs. I mean, just listen to how pretentious I sound, and I'm a relatively open-minded American.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Pretentious git.

[Gibsie]

The averge American (And everyone else) doesn't understand what Michael Moore stands for. For example, as far as most (Perhaps a simplification) people are concerned since he hates Bush therefore he loves Clinton, when that is not correct. I guess that's what happens with a two party system though.

[Verto]

I don't agree with Moore.

[Sava]

Moore is pretty moderate... it's just because he's so public and outspoken against right wing radicals that he seems to be on the fringe.

I think America is more "liberal" than the right would like. The NRA knows this, and a lot of other right wing groups know this. There was a collection of polls I read about that illustrated this fact.

The right keeps America polarized over "moral" issues like abortion, religion, and now war in order to keep power. They know that America would boot them out if most Americans knew about their corrupt connections to corporate cartels.

But does the "average" American agree with Michael Moore? Tough to answer... there isn't such a thing as an "average" American.

[JohnT]

Eh, you're pretty average, Sava.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe
OTOH, once in office the same leftist or rightist pandering candidates shift to centrist policies. Case in point Clinton and Bush. And for those who think Bush ultra-right one only need look at the growth of government and tarrif policy.

Bush has yet to tack back to the center. He's starting to make some campaign promises to go centerwards again, but his promises have the same worth as a $3 bill.

[GePap]

There is no such thing as the average American. And we are pretty polarized as a society. I would say 30% right, 20% left, and the rest floating in the middle. But those people who are apolitical are also the ones least liekly to get involved in politics, so even if one can claim the majority of Americans are moderate, this is a majority that is uninvolved, thus leaving the polarized ends to control the politics of this country.