Matt Yglesias

28 Responses to “MSNBC on the Center-Right Myth”

1. The Dean Says:
   November 9th, 2008 at 12:34 pm

   What are your thoughts on this survey? Do you think they’re skewing the results somehow?

2. The Dean Says:
   November 9th, 2008 at 12:35 pm

   The whole “Center-right” vs. “Center-Left” debate is silly, because it all depends on the wording of the questions in these polls.

3. will Says:
   November 9th, 2008 at 12:41 pm

   “Center-left” and “center-right” sound very European to me.

4. GP Says:
   November 9th, 2008 at 12:49 pm

   Something troubles me about the center-right issue: compared to what? What is the reference?

   The notion of right wing and left wing politics, IIRC, started here in France, and I don’t think pundits are trying to use a French reference for American Politics. All reference are local.
   The idea about a center-right America, to me, means that America is on the right of itself.

   On the last 50 years, it might be fair to say that Congress leans to the left and the Presidency leans to the right.

   I have the opinion that this is partly due to the composition of the electoral college, where small-population states are slightly over-represented. Those being mainly rural and hence mainly republican states (McCain won 18-12 in states representing less than 10 EV, counting DC), the electoral college leans a bit to the right of the national population. This had a real impact in 2000.

   But as for the larger point, it seems to me that a country has to be center-nothing, and moves center-left and center-right with political cycles.

5. Kiril Says:
   November 9th, 2008 at 1:11 pm

   I still can’t figure out why Bolton, of all people, is considered a credible political analyst. BBC America had him on for election night coverage, and I remember wondering what he was doing there, too, although it was amusing seeing the moderator put him in his place after some outburst, saying “Yes, well now you’ve had your say, but what about the question?”

6. brent Says:
   November 9th, 2008 at 1:18 pm

   The link no longer works. Is there an alternate link?

7. Johnny Says:
   November 9th, 2008 at 1:27 pm

   “Sorry, this video is no longer available”. Anyone know where to find it? I hope someone points out that “center-right nation” is a self-contradicting phrase. The only place politics can be ‘left’ and ‘right’ of is the mainstream of a nation.

   There’s dog-whistle politics happening here. Hugh Hewitt describes himself as ‘center-right’ nearly as often as Fox News calls themselves “fair and balanced”. Conservatives who use this phrase are aren’t just saying that Nixon’s silent majority is alive and well, they’re implying that real Americans are loyal Bushies.

8. MattF Says:
   November 9th, 2008 at 1:31 pm

   “America is a center-right country” is the latest right-wing talking point. Problem is that Bush & Co. is a fairly classic right wing regime– religious, militarist, plutocratic, and corrupt– and Americans have now rejected that in two national elections in the past two years.

9. Adam Says:
   November 9th, 2008 at 1:45 pm

   How about a compromise: we can agree that 60-80% of Americans agree with each element of progressive philosophy, enact said philosophies, and call ourselves a center-right country because in any sensible country the current Democratic party *would* be center-right.

10. Jack Says:
    November 9th, 2008 at 2:29 pm

    I think most people are so confused and ill-informed that its pretty much nonsense to make any claims about their ideology.

11. Miatch Says:
    November 9th, 2008 at 2:29 pm

    Video is down.

12. kth Says:
    November 9th, 2008 at 3:15 pm

    The TV caption says “Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton: U.S. Remains a Center-Right Nation”. Practically an Onion headline (and I suspect someone at MSNBC is subversive enough to appreciate the irony).

13. Colatina Says:
    November 10th, 2008 at 2:31 am

    Rove and co.: “We’re a center-right nation. Which just elected a crypto-Muslim radical socialist. But we weren’t really voting for Islam and radical socialism, so much as we were voting against Bush’s un-conservatism. Which is apparently even worse than Islam and socialism, in the minds of most voters.”

    Makes a lot of sense when you think about it.

    “I think most people are so confused and ill-informed that its pretty much nonsense to make any claims about their ideology.”
    It has been shown that most voters don’t think ideologically. But I don’t think that’s what the claim is abbout. It’s about how we would characterize voters’ policy preferences on an ideological scale.

14. Roschelle Says:
    November 10th, 2008 at 6:51 am

    It’s seems that Obama’s victory might very well divide us more than ever before. Surprisingly it’s not his opponents that are broadening the division but his supporters.

15. Jim Says:
    November 10th, 2008 at 11:46 pm

    The porn industry is bigger than the music industry and all major sports leagues. Yet somehow this is a center right nation. Yeah….

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