US continues move to the right; Dems don't get it

[Kuciwalker]

Not biting.

[Dinner]

A great video cast released just Friday which talks about how America is becoming more and more liberal. It's full of polling numbers and facts which prove DanS wrong.

[KrazyHorse]

Not biting.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Sort of yes. That doesn't rule out a constitutional challenge that doesn't overturn the earlier decision: it could be that the mandate does authorize unconstitutional regulation, but previously the FCC's regulation had not fallen in that zone.

In fact it seems that most legal scholars agree that what will happen is that the 2nd Circuit will say that the FCC went over the line with respect to the 1st Amendment and the Supreme Court will affirm the 2nd Circuit's decision on that matter.

[Arrian]

Holy ****, I just saw this one.

The GOP is still pushing that bull**** about the US being a "center-right nation" and DanS actually expects any of us to buy it?

Yeah, ok.

-Arrian

[SpencerH]

I agree with DanS. Too many here are equating conservative values with being a Republican. I'm probably more conservative on many topics than most here but I'm not one of those political cowards.

[DanS]

The GOP is still pushing that bull**** about the US being a "center-right nation" and DanS actually expects any of us to buy it?

The percentage of voters who self-identify as conservatives has been growing for decades. Meanwhile, the percentage of voters who self-identify as liberals has been sliding for decades.

I do think that the conservatives of today may not be quite the conservatives of yesterday.

NB: I do not self-identify as a conservative.

[Drake Tungsten]

The GOP is still pushing that bull**** about the US being a "center-right nation" and DanS actually expects any of us to buy it?

Only a moron who's never been outside the U.S. would think of America as anything other than a "center-right nation." I recommend you try reading a book on European politics.

[Arrian]

I agree with DanS. Too many here are equating conservative values with being a Republican

And apparently others (Dan, perhaps?) believe that liberal = Democrat. Where, then, did the "Blue Dogs" come from? The Dems have run conservative Dem candidates in places where liberals would lose. That, to me, constitutes "getting it."

The Republican party has taken beatings in two straight elections, and Dan's here to lecture the Dems on "not getting it?" I find that funny.

Dan, I think you may be seeing the reversal of that self-identification trend you mentioned. After all, "liberal" has lost its sting. That's why they had to resort to calling Obama a socialist. Even that didn't work.

Only a moron who's never been outside the U.S. would think of America as anything other than a "center-right nation."

USA =! Nebraska I get that "real America" leans right. There are a whole lot of us in fake America, though, who don't. The poll data I've seen on various issues (gay marriage, universal healthcare, MJ legalization, etc) don't match up with the GOP line you guys are pushing.

-Arrian

[Arrian]

Re: the abortion numbers, a quick google search turned up this link:

http://www.pollingreport.com/abortion.htm

There's quite a bit of poll data listed there. I see fluctuation over the past ~12 years. What I don't see is a trend.

-Arrian

[SpencerH]

And apparently others (Dan, perhaps?) believe that liberal = Democrat. Where, then, did the "Blue Dogs" come from? The Dems have run conservative Dem candidates in places where liberals would lose. That, to me, constitutes "getting it."

The Republican party has taken beatings in two straight elections, and Dan's here to lecture the Dems on "not getting it?" I find that funny.

-Arrian

Its certainly an equally valid point that not all Dems are liberal and that the Dems used that fact brilliantly in the recent elections.

[Drake Tungsten]

I get that "real America" leans right. There are a whole lot of us in fake America, though, who don't.

You totally missed the point. Even the Democratic party is "center-right" by world standards.

[Arrian]

Upon further review, I'll retract my argument over the "center-right" tag. From an international (Western) perspective, it's obviously true that the USA is right of center. Believe it or not, I never intended to dispute that (but sure ended up looking like I was). I have seen the "center-right" claim enough in debates/arguments over domestic US issues that I assumed that it was being used in a domestic context (which sounds odd, but then again I've seen some odd arguments).

The core of my argument remains:

Dan's claim was that the Dems are "moving left" while America is "moving right" and, therefore, the Dems "don't get it." I still think that's absurd, both because there are a number of conservative Dems in office and because I don't think the US voting population is actually moving rightward.

-Arrian

[DanS]

1) The electorate is moving right. This is shown by surveys of self-identification. Conservatives now are over a third of the population. Liberals are about 20%. Believe it or not, this never used to be the case. What's your evidence that this isn't the case?

2) The Dems are moving left. Conservative dems in office are so few (contrary to your claims), that it seems proper to discount them. But if you still quibble, then I think it's fair to say that the Dem leadership is moving left. Obama's the first liberal president in a generation, after all!

[Drake Tungsten]

The Dem leadership is definitely moving left. It's questionable whether the Dem congressional delegation as a whole is moving left, given that they added some more conservative Dems in the last election. These new conservative Dems will be the first to go when the GOP makes a comeback, however.