Most Americans are not extreme right wing....

by Hellsangel Tue Jun 21, 2011 9:05 am

...but are right of center. A fact that many liberals refuse to acknowledge.

by charvaka Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:12 am

Most Americans are right of center? Here are a few liberal counterpoints to that.

On tax policy, a majority of public opinion is to the left of center -- something that conservatives routinely fail to acknowledge.
Most Americans are not extreme right wing.... Ruy091710-01

Most Americans are not extreme right wing.... Ruy091710-01

Most Americans are not extreme right wing.... Ruy092010_02

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/09/snapshot092010.html

On abortion, a majority of Americans support the legal status of abortion, with just about a quarter not wanting abortions at all. Pro-life conservatives do not acknowledge that.

	Total	Republican	Democrat
Should be generally available	34%	19%	46%
Should have stricter limits	41%	37%	40%
Should not be permitted	23%	41%	13%
DK/NA	2%	2%	1%

The Dem average for "not permitted" is 10 percentage points off the national average; the GOP average is almost twice as far removed.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/04/19/public-opinion-on-abortion/

On unemployment and the deficit, voters favor cutting unemployment over reducing the deficit 54 - 35 percent, but in
another question, 47 percent say reduce unemployment while 46 percent say reduce spending.
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1295.xml?ReleaseID=1595

On entitlement programs, voters favor left of center policies:

Half of the 1,408 voters surveyed were told Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid and defense comprise 60 percent of the federal budget; the other half was not told. Yet responses were similar. Voters who were told of the 60 percent figure oppose limits to entitlement growth:
70 - 27 percent against limiting Medicare; 75 - 23 percent among those not told; 72 - 26 percent against limiting Social Security; 72 - 24 percent among those not told; 57 - 40 percent against Medicaid limits, compared to 59 - 38 percent.
Voters informed of the 60 percent figure support cuts in defense spending 54 - 43 percent, while voters not told split with 47 percent for defense cuts and 49 percent opposed.

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1295.xml?ReleaseID=1595

Issue after issue, poll after poll, the majority of voters favor left of center policies on the economy, and agree with the left of center approach on the litmus test issue of abortion.

by Hellsangel Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:30 am

The American Progress is a left leaning organization.

Here is an alternative view on abortion:

http://www.aei.org/docLib/Abortion2011.pdf

Will post more later.

by charvaka Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:35 am

Hellsangel wrote:The American Progress is a left leaning organization.

Here is an alternative view on abortion:

http://www.aei.org/docLib/Abortion2011.pdf

Will post more later.

The polls are not conducted by The American Progress. They are CBS / New York Times and Qunnipac polls.

by charvaka Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:40 am

Hellsangel wrote:Here is an alternative view on abortion:

http://www.aei.org/docLib/Abortion2011.pdf

It is not that different from what I posted. It says that only 19% of people think abortion should be illegal. And a majority do NOT want to overturn Roe v. Wade.

by Hellsangel Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:50 am

Estate taxes:
http://www.aei.org/docLib/AEIPublicOpinionTaxes2011.pdf
Page 89

by charvaka Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:56 am

On estate taxes, the question is: why does everyone else have to pay more taxes (or reduce services) to benefit the wealthiest 0.2% of people? (On the lines of your question regarding gay people being under 3% of the population.)

by Hellsangel Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:58 am

PS: I do think that the re election of Bush and the rejection of Sarah Palin confirms that belief that most Americans are in fact Right of Center.

And the fact that Proposition 8 passed the ballot test in a 'progressive' state like California even when the opposition managed to raise more funds further affirms that.

by charvaka Tue Jun 21, 2011 11:06 am

In that case, the election of Obama disproves that belief. After all, he won by a bigger margin than Bush ever did.

As for Prop 8, just wait a few years, and it will get repealed by popular vote. What will that then prove -- that most Americans are liberals?

The only way you can make judgments like that would be by looking at opinions on specific issues (as I posted above.) On social issues, Americans are split down the middle; on economic issues, the majority of Americans are left of center.

by Hellsangel Tue Jun 21, 2011 11:08 am

charvaka wrote:In that case, the election of Obama disproves that belief. After all, he won by a bigger margin than Bush ever did.

As for Prop 8, just wait a few years, and it will get repealed by popular vote. What will that then prove -- that most Americans are liberals?

The only way you can make judgments like that would be by looking at opinions on specific issues (as I posted above.) On social issues, Americans are split down the middle; on economic issues, the majority of Americans are left of center.

Maybe if it gets repealed down the road then maybe you could say that more Americans are liberal. But as of today they are not.

I think Sarah Palin played a huge part in Obama's victory. It showed really bad judgment on McCain's part and cost him the swing voters.

by charvaka Tue Jun 21, 2011 11:30 am

We have focused this discussion for the most part on a point in time. But if you take the long view, it becomes more interesting. At any time in America's history, it is possible to argue that most people were distributed around the political center, perhaps with more people to the right of it than to the left of it. But that center itself has shifted inexorably to the left, at least in social matters. Imagine if someone had raised the question of same-sex marriage in 1960. Imagine if someone had raised the question of repealing miscegenation laws in 1860. Imagine if someone had raised the question of repealing slavery in 1760. This is the long arc of history at play again; and it does swing towards justice. How did that come about if Americans were for the most part right-of-center for most of the time?

Even if you look at just the last 50 years: the political center today is one where "macaca" gets you in trouble in a Virginia. George Wallace was giving public speeches about niggers and that did not reduce his popularity; in fact it made him more popular. That was the political center then.

An extreme right-wing politician today (let's say Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachmann) cannot win their own party's gubernatorial primaries (forget the general election), were they to argue for the things George Wallace argued for, or use the words he used. That is how much the political center has moved. Now, if for most of this time, America was mostly right-of-center, how did this change take place? Or do you think America has only recently become mostly right-of-center?

by Sponsored content

Most Americans are not extreme right wing....

Most Americans are not extreme right wing....

Re: Most Americans are not extreme right wing....

Re: Most Americans are not extreme right wing....

Re: Most Americans are not extreme right wing....

Re: Most Americans are not extreme right wing....

Re: Most Americans are not extreme right wing....

Re: Most Americans are not extreme right wing....

Re: Most Americans are not extreme right wing....

Re: Most Americans are not extreme right wing....

Re: Most Americans are not extreme right wing....

Re: Most Americans are not extreme right wing....

Re: Most Americans are not extreme right wing....