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November 14, 2008 at 01:10:43
Promoted to Headline (H3) on 11/14/08: by Jack Clark |
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So, what kind of post-election spin from the right have you heard? Whatever the variety, their spin is designed to rev themselves up, and to demoralize us. Won't work, I'm afraid. Let's take three right-wing attempts to delude themselves. The most idiotic take I've heard is a repeat from prior presidential elections. Right-wingers present a map of the US color-coded blue-red not by state, but by county. The country is awash in red. Tom Brokaw even was on the air talking about this. Such a map is meaningless. Sparsely populated counties voted for McCain. There are a lot of square miles there. But few people. That's why McCain lost. Few people. What, is this Empty Acres for McCain? Now, another doozy I've heard purports to tell us, that Obama's victory shows the public embraces right-wing policies. This, amazingly enough, comes from people who mere days before, were warning the nation that Obama was espousing socialism. Brent Bozell is the head of a right-wing media watchdog group called Accuracy in Media. A week before the election, Bozell said on Fox & Friends: audio: Bozell But when you go through the entirety of the campaign saying the kind of things that you're saying in the debates, where on, for every question, you've got a redistribution of wealth answer, where you've got socialism, where you've got the government controlling every aspect of life. You don't expect a reporter to ask you, "Is this socialism?" Because the media don't ask that question. Ok, you'll recall that my entire last podcast before the election, was devoted to debunking that final right-wing attack line, that Obama plans to turn the country into a socialist state. Yet listen to what Bozell said, three days after the election, on Fox News' America's Newsroom: audio: Bozell [T]he fascinating thing, Bill, is that Barack Obama ran as a Reaganite and won over the fiscal -- the public as a fiscal conservative. That's what the polling data shows…Barack Obama won as a conservative. That means that Barack Obama does not have the mandate to enact the left-wing agenda he wants to enact. He didn't run on it, he ran from it. So, this is not necessarily bad news for conservatives. So, Obama ran as a Reaganite. But I thought he ran as a socialist. A Reagan socialist, perhaps? No, no, of course, it's a socialist Reaganite… Arguing that government must step in to strengthen the social safety net, that we must raise the taxes on the wealthy, those are certainly Reagan-like positions, huh? The right-wing capacity for self-delusion is seemingly endless. Okay, the third right-wing spin attempt, is to admit that Obama ran to the left and still won, but that the country remains a "center-right" nation. That's the term du jour: center-right. Republican Senator Lindsay Graham told the Associated Press: I think this is a center-right nation. America did not wake up one day and become liberal… Wrong. For a complete, detailed debunking of this, you should check out my three part series, called Reason To Cheer. It's in podcasts 105, 106 and 108. In short, several polls from major polling organizations show that Americans support progressive policies on most every economic and social justice issue, that our progressive majority is growing larger and larger, and, that increasingly left-leaning youth will turn the country increasingly progressive. That last item was pretty prescient, huh? What issues are these? For starters, try the overall role of government, health care, taxes, and moral values. Yes, moral values. Majorities, sometimes even super-majorities of Americans, believe that: --the government should provide more, not less services --the government should guarantee health care for every American. --the distribution of wealth in this country is unfairly concentrated --the wealthy pay too little in taxes --Democrats reflect the nation's moral values more than do Republicans Gallup just found that 51% of the public wants to heavily tax the wealthy in order to redistribute wealth. Two-thirds of the public supports a government guarantee of health care for every American. You may also run into right-wingers who are now bringing up a post-election poll that says Americans describe themselves as conservative, moderate and liberal in the same percentages as four years ago. That would be 34% conservative, 44% moderate, and 22% liberal. Part 2 of the series, addressed this very mystery, that if more than half, often two-thirds or more of Americans espouse progressive positions, shouldn't two-thirds or more of Americans describe themselves, given the choices liberal-moderate-conservative -- as liberal? They should, but they don't. Why not? A couple of reasons, according to analyses and polls: the word liberal has become so demonized, that many people espousing progressive positions will instead call themselves moderates. And perhaps the main reason, many self-described moderates and conservatives don't understand their positions are actually progressive, not moderate or conservative. 
http://www.therationalradical.com/podcast.html
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| 14 comments |
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Republicans had no candidate to vote for.
McCain in the eyes of many republicans is a liberal. We are conservatives. Many republicans and some of our pundits like Ann Courer refused to vote for McCain at all. Then along came Sarah Palin a real conservitive as VP. Ok, now we decided that we would vote for leftist turncoat McCain in the hopes that he would drop dead leaving Sarah as president. Democrats didn't win with Obama. Republicans Lost with McCain. by David C Beach (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 169 comments) on Friday, Nov 14, 2008 at 8:58:32 AM  (0+)
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Reply: To back up my claim that McCain was disliked by Republicans
He is number one in the right-of-center bloggers' least favorite people on the right for 2008. Here Without Sarah Palin he would have been down another 5 to 10 points on election day. by David C Beach (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 169 comments) on Friday, Nov 14, 2008 at 12:19:21 PM (0+)
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Reply: Repulicans selected McCain.
Your claim that Republicans had no candidate to vote for is false. The primary had several Republicans for which to vote, and the majority of your party voted for McCain. Don't you remember that? Maybe Rush Limbaugh telling Republicans to vote for Hillary Clinton in his "Operation Chaos" was part of the problem. There was a whole group of conservative candidates running, but the Republicans voted for the most liberal. What does that say about the country? Maybe they aren't that conservative after all. They could have voted for Huckabee, Paul, or Romney, but McCain got the most votes. How can you square that with the statement "Republicans had no candidate to vote for."? by Patrick Sinnott (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 14 comments) on Friday, Nov 14, 2008 at 4:50:38 PM (0+)
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Reply: Beach and other Conservatives were angling for Thompson or
Duncan Hunter, neither of whom gained any traction in the Republican Primary. The Freepers were posting hundreds of fawning threads for Fred Thompson day after day. The moral of the story is, the Republican Party electorate isnt even as conservative as Beach and the Freepers let on. This is a strong indication that the Republican party doesnt know who it is right now and that is a good thing for everyone from the center on left. by Steven Leser (255 articles, 58 quicklinks, 38 diaries, 2148 comments [63 recommended, 2 rejected]) on Friday, Nov 14, 2008 at 10:56:01 PM (0+)
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That is pretty much it...
McCain was no choice at all.... When I wore my "McBama" T-shirt, to the polls, republicans and democrats both agreed that it was accurate... There was not enough of a difference to excite anyone at the concept that there would be change. McCain represents 4 more years of Bush, Obama will continue MOST of the Bush policies, from what I have heard so far, and then add a bunch more that should make all of us question the meaning behind the oath of office. Anyway, whatever spin you are hearing is just that.. Spin. the candidate sucked, and that is why he lost... PERIOD! Ciao, CZ by steve scheetz (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 831 comments [52 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Nov 14, 2008 at 9:19:58 AM (0+)
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Reply: McCain=Keyes
I know that crazy-ass Republicans think that McCain is liberal. That's why I came up with the theory that he was the Alan Keyes of this election. Obama's Senate race was against a good-looking moderate Republican who was removed and replaced with a crazy-ass nut named Alan Keyes. Obama won by 70% Crazy Republicans hate McCain. Normal Republicans were appalled by Palin. Together they made a very beatable team. Obama is clearly the choice of the ruling class and his way to the White House was smoothed by giving him opponents who only the most deluded would vote for. Witness the guy above. by wagelaborer (6 articles, 1 quicklinks, 9 diaries, 311 comments [34 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Nov 14, 2008 at 1:56:24 PM (0+)
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Balance
It is gratifying to see that there are people on the right who refused to vote for the liberal McCain, just as there are people on the left who refused to vote for the conservative Obama. Things do have a way of balancing out. by PrMaine (13 articles, 13 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 511 comments [22 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Friday, Nov 14, 2008 at 1:39:37 PM (0+)
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Democratic revolution
Great week for the President. Change is coming. http://www.squidoo.com/Revolution_by_vote by Lew Ranger (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 48 comments) on Friday, Nov 14, 2008 at 2:08:42 PM (0+)
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To all of my Republican Friends
To all of my Republican friends: I'll hug your elephant, by Harold Hellickson (15 articles, 0 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 99 comments [10 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Nov 14, 2008 at 3:27:44 PM (0+)
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Reply: Me Too!
Way To Go, Harold!!!! by PeterJ (16 articles, 3 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 236 comments [53 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Nov 14, 2008 at 4:30:17 PM (0+)
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Reply: me to, to
It is a great poem and one I will be sending to all my obnoxious Republican friends and family members. by Archie (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1760 comments [112 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Nov 14, 2008 at 4:41:21 PM (0+)
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a "terrorist" bump to Harold!
Those "pathetic" right wing necons tell themselves things over and over and believe their own lies. They BLAME anyone and everyone but their own little perfect group. Just one thing about BLAMING someone else for your failures, one of the side effects about it is the circle gets increasingly smaller. I guess they (Palin & McCain) still insist that Ayers is a "terrorist". The Blackwater thugs have committed more terrorist attacks on people than any group I have ever known. Fear tactics, the country is damn tired of them. by shirley reese (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 592 comments [98 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Friday, Nov 14, 2008 at 5:00:30 PM (0+)
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Where is Bush's base - The Have-Mores
I've been curious lately about the GOP. Where are the very rich, the millionaires/billionaires who are in the Republican Party because voting this way is most assuredly IN and FOR their best interests? What are they thinking about the meltdown of their party and the wingnuts essentially demolishing any credibility in the GOP as a party of any relevancy in this century? Strangely quiet, aren't they? And! Where will the very rich gravitate politically? As a Democrat, I sure as hell don't want them. Maybe they're going to start another party - How about reviving the $e$$e$$ioni$t Party or something that really engenders their true principle? Just curious by Rufus2 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 14 comments) on Friday, Nov 14, 2008 at 9:54:40 PM (0+)
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Reply: The Have-Mores
Unfortunantly, Rufus, they are with us Democrats. They can afford to play on both sides of the fence and they do. As Chris Hedges has noted: " I single out no party. The Democratic Party has been as guilty as the Republicans. It was Bill Clinton who led the Democratic Party to the corporate watering trough. Clinton argued that the party had to ditch labor unions, no longer a source of votes or power, as a political ally. Workers, he insisted, would vote Democratic anyway. They had no choice. It was better, he argued, to take corporate money. By the 1990s, the Democratic Party, under Clinton's leadership, had virtual fundraising parity with the Republicans. Today the Democrats get more. Getting Congress and the Administration to follow a Progressives agenda will be a continuing effort if the "special interests" influence is to be denied. by Harold Hellickson (15 articles, 0 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 99 comments [10 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Nov 15, 2008 at 9:48:42 AM (0+)
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