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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"The U.S. shifts left"
The U.S. shifts leftBy E.J. Dionne Jr at the Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ej-dionne-jr-america-shifts-left/2013/11/06/2119e06e-470e-11e3-b6f8-3782ff6cb769_story.html
"SNIP...............................
Terry McAuliffe won in Virginia as a middle-of-the-road, business-friendly champion of jobs. But he was also firmly liberal on gay marriage and abortion, and cast Ken Cuccinelli, his opponent, as a social troglodyte.
More than that: McAuliffe was outspoken against the National Rifle Association and in favor of a variety of gun-safety measures, including background checks. McAuliffe did not shrink from his F rating from the NRA. He boasted about it.
His outspokenness was rewarded. He overwhelmingly won the suburbs outside of Washington and built a large margin among women. The power of the gun-control issue should not be lost in the sometimes-foggy talk about centrism. This should embolden supporters of sane gun laws.
In New York City, Bill de Blasio built the days second landslide on another sort of liberalism, a populist assault on rising inequality. In a victory speech that will be read as a manifesto for a new progressivism, de Blasio declared that inequality is the defining challenge of our time. He renewed his campaign call for modest tax increases on the best-off to finance education programs to give poorer kids a chance to join the ranks of the successful.
...............................SNIP"
Rex
(65,616 posts)Their hatred of anything Left is telling.
HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)McAuliffe? I suppose he's part of the Clintonite left That almost certainly depends on the meaning of left.
Which we all KNOW is a relative position to the radical right.
SchmerzImArsch
(49 posts)gopiscrap
(23,725 posts)Deep13
(39,154 posts)SchmerzImArsch
(49 posts)Sad state of affairs, ain't it?
boomersense
(147 posts)ddd
Hestia
(3,818 posts)Tea Party shocker: Even right-wingers become liberals when they turn off Fox News
America's center is to the left, and even Tea Partyers are liberals when they turn off Rush and learn real facts
http://www.salon.com/2013/11/08/tea_party_shocker_even_right_wingers_become_liberals_when_they_turn_off_fox_news/
It goes with my personal observations (and it seems quite a few posters on this board) with real live people are not as conservative as we allowed ourselves to be told.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024002652
bananas
(27,509 posts)"Obama: I Would Be Considered Moderate Republican In 1980s - ABC News"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101793318
"Noam Chomsky: Obama Would Have Been Called a Moderate Republican in Recent Decades"
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/noam-chomsky-obama-would-have-been-called-moderate-republican-recent-decades
bananas
(27,509 posts)- Its not just the center vs. the extremes; there is broad consensus across the boards on the basic contours of government spending priorities the historically most important dimension of political opinion.
- Its just that the center is not where its supposed to be: Its not somewhere in between the two parties, its well to the left of the Democrats in D.C.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Gee, Cucinelli's proposal to outlaw oral sex wasn't popular? Go figure.
Authoritarians and control freaks and people obsessed with finger-wagging all haz a sad.
DJ13
(23,671 posts)Instead of a sycophant of the wealthy like all DLC'ers are.
It might have been a real landslide.
Jamaal510
(10,893 posts)if Republicans hadn't cheated and rigged the voting laws there.
nomorenomore08
(13,324 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)Tarheel_Dem
(31,220 posts)Marie Marie
(9,999 posts)Now how do we get the politicians to represent us instead of the corporations, religious groups and the right wing fringe who keep getting louder in spite of ever decreasing numbers?
applegrove
(118,460 posts)a relief, I imagine, for some independents to not be bullshitted.
Hestia
(3,818 posts)regurgitation of the same articles and thought patterns from 2004 onward. We are too spread out and way too thin in trying to be inclusive of every issue at every moment. It is easy for us/we (as in the royal we ) to hold onto those issues day in day out. Can we not fight one big battle, inflict some hurt, and then come back to the table that we own, sit down and hammer the laws of the land out?
One Major Event, with every group, without defining their stated position, one day and one day only, and really stand for Something? And(!) don't announce it over the friggin' internet tubes?
In my dream castle, it would be rolling walkouts, industries wide. Extremely simplified, A-H goes Monday, I-P goes next Monday, Q-Z the following Monday. It could either be by surname or corporation/LLC/business name. If it is not announced, or even announced, in such a way as to not be trashed on boards, websites, forums, etc. et al ad nauseum, I like to think it would work. I've always wondered what "the numbers" would look like, or if anyone would pay any attention other than the bean counters at the GAO? It will show somewhere; and I picture board members everywhere looking at the vacation and sick day numbers, faces turned white as a sheet. Can you imagine...
Wouldn't that be a great sub-thread - Building Your Dream Castle - and as we all know, dreams can come true
onethatcares
(16,161 posts)just a ten minute work stoppage, whether you're driving somewhere, sitting at a computer, building houses.
Your idea kicks mine in the butt.
Left Coast2020
(2,397 posts)Certainly the demographics have been changing--which the tea freaks can't handle--and it will eventually make the GOP a fractional presence on the political stage. It's happening. Slowly but surely it's happening.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)closeupready
(29,503 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)JEFF9K
(1,935 posts)... if not for the billions in free false advertising that the right gets from Fox and talk radio.
SchmerzImArsch
(49 posts)Anything that isn't Teabaggery is left by definition, but certainly isn't left of center.
ananda
(28,831 posts)..
LondonReign2
(5,213 posts)We sensible woodchucks know that we'll never get a grand bargain if we so much as slow our move to the righ, errrrr middle.
DallasNE
(7,402 posts)McAuliffe did not run as a blue dog in a southern State and ran a rather mainstream Democratic campaign. I always thought the biggest win in terms of margin was in NYC where Bill de Blasio won with a whopping 73% of the vote using a very left message. Indeed, this should be seen as helpful in races in the South such as GA, LA, AR, KY etc.
Tarheel_Dem
(31,220 posts)declarations. I remember these kind of headlines when Scott Brown won Teddy's seat. I've learned through the years, that these things are cyclical. The country, outside the blue areas, are sick to death of the Tea Party, even the people who once threw money at them.
If people actually believe that the de Blasio victory could be replicated across the country, I've got some swampland for ya. That being said, I think McAuliffe's victory is much more in line with where the country actually is. Socially liberal, and economically pragmatic.
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)up into the 1% before it'll "trickle down" to the rest of us? Is that your definition of "pragmatic"? If anything, the OPPOSITE of your "socially liberal, economically pragmatic" formula is true, ESPECIALLY in the south.
I can't wait to see how a Huey Long type of left economic populist does in the Republican dominated areas of the country because I believe they'll do very well. Better than the DLC type of Republican lite will anyway.
Tarheel_Dem
(31,220 posts)socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)then we'll see. Southern Dems are too invested in the Republican Lite concept to even try something like that EVEN THOUGH THEY CONTINUE TO LOSE ELECTIONS RUNNING ON THE SAME OLD PLATFORM.
I would think that if you lose every fucking time running as Republican Lite, you might at least WANT to try something else.
Tarheel_Dem
(31,220 posts)And why haven't you thrown your own hat in the ring? Are you "Waiting for Mr. Goodbar"?
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)But you know that. I'm sure they don't actually don't do it in North Carolina either. You get that choice between corporate candidate A and corporate candidate B.
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)that you touted. That's the same economic pragmatism that means we funnel wealth into the 1% so they can trickle it back down to the rest of us peons, correct?
Tarheel_Dem
(31,220 posts)Since you aren't happy with the choices, why not put your own arse on the line? Stop blaming other people for your shortcomings.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)If everything is dunky hory and the candidates are all above average there in Lake Wobegon why are you bothering to discuss politics?
Tarheel_Dem
(31,220 posts)discuss WHATEVER the hell I want, WHENEVER I want, WHEREVER I want. And the question still remains for the other poster....If you're as dissatisfied as you appear with the choices, you know exactly what you need to do. "Be The Change" in Tennessee.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)If everything is already perfect then what's the point of talking about it?
I'm always interested in motivations, I don't understand the motivation to talk about politics if someone is convinced that we already live in the best of all possible worlds.
For instance I'm not particularly interested in talking about politics in Canada or Australia because they have little to no effect on me or anyone I know and yet we have Canadians and Australians posting here on the DU who seem even more obsessed by American politics than many Americans who post on here.
Not everyone who is interested in politics is remotely capable of being a politician, I'm interested in and regularly discuss a variety of scientific subjects but I'm not qualified either by temperament or training to be a an actual scientist and don't have the lifespan left to acquire the skill set needed for that endeavor.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)can finally test it out. One thing is certain, everyone despises the DLC types on all sides and the ONLY reason they ever make it at all is because Progressives always show up to vote, even if they have to hold their noses. But left leaning Independents are not committed to any party and in 2010 they just refused to support Republican lite. Dems lost the house despite the best efforts of Progressives who helped hold on to the Senate and MOST of the progressive seats in Congress.
Imagine if a real Dem had run in some of those districts, we might have held on to the House, Independents would have had a reason to vote.
Everyone knows this is a left, on the issues, country. Only the right denies it and fake dems, iow, only corporate puppets keep up that pretense for obvious reasons.
nomorenomore08
(13,324 posts)Sure wouldn't hurt to try...
Brickbat
(19,339 posts)Scurrilous
(38,687 posts)Orsino
(37,428 posts)...and alienating independents. I think it's far to early to term this shift any sort of progressive movement.
But it's definitely a shift from far right to center-right, at least.
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)nomorenomore08
(13,324 posts)KG
(28,751 posts)randome
(34,845 posts)You don't recognize a sea change when you see it? Gay rights are mainstream. Even the Pope recognizes that. ACA is saving people's lives while the GOP self-destructs. We're starting to win on the issue of increasing taxes!
And yet some of you want to sit around complaining that Obama isn't good enough for you. The OP isn't even about Obama!
No one says you're required to be happy on demand but I swear, some of you would be moping about the GOP disbanding and moving to Tahiti.
It's a sea change! At least recognize the facts in front of your nose!
[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]
davidn3600
(6,342 posts)That's not really new.
The social Christian conservative wing of the GOP has been losing power for years.
The party is now being led by moderates, libertarians, and rich business folk. These guys don't really care about homosexuals or even abortion for that matter....they just care about money.
randome
(34,845 posts)The descent of the GOP, gay rights being mainstream, more progressives getting elected. Even the Pope's selection is a sign of the times.
I don't mean to hijack this thread but even Occupy is a sign of the times, despite the disappointment in its tactics.
I don't believe in optimism but the signs are there. In this case, it's best to 'go with the flow', IMO. Push it to Warp Factor Bazinga!
[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]
Bosso 63
(992 posts)for my whole adult life. I was 17 when Regan was elected, and even then I thought;"this is messed up, but only temporary". Now I'm 50, and finally we ARE moving back to wards the center. This would have happened a long time ago, but the Right jammed the machine to keep the pendulum stuck for as long as they could. The Republican have been trapped in their Sisyphean endeavor for decades, and are blinded by fear and panic as even they see what is happening. The gig is up and its about fucking time, but in the meantime remember; few things are more dangerous than men blinded by fear and panic.
randome
(34,845 posts)In 1968, we actually thought we would have a base on the Moon by 2001!
But it is what it is. Yes, the GOP is still dangerous. But after 10 years of successive failures, they are at their weakest yet. Demographics ensure they will not rise up from this, IMO.
We have to keep moving forward and not get depressed about what might have been.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Birds are territorial creatures.
The lyrics to the songbird's melodious trill go something like this:
"Stay out of my territory or I'll PECK YOUR GODDAMNED EYES OUT!"[/center][/font][hr]
nomorenomore08
(13,324 posts)And when their party seems made up mostly of "fiscal conservatives" - when right-wing economic policies have just about destroyed this country as it is - I don't blame them for thinking it's not "good enough."
Which isn't to say that we shouldn't recognize a positive development when we see one. And Cuccinelli losing - McAuliffe aside for the moment - is certainly a positive development.
JimboBillyBubbaBob
(1,389 posts)one piece at a time, one piece at a time.
SHRED
(28,136 posts)2banon
(7,321 posts)DC Media Pundits' rank stupidity defines that election as a "shift to the left" for the nation of sheep to blindly accept.
nomorenomore08
(13,324 posts)If Cuccinelli had won, on the other hand, that would have been an obvious (and frightening) shift to the right.