Myth: America is Conservative

[Neil D]

New Report Documents Progressive American Majority

Independent Public Polls Debunk Conventional Wisdom

That Americans Agree With Conservative Agenda

This is the report

Washington, D.C. - Today, Media Matters for America and Campaign for America's Future released a special report, "The Progressive Majority: Why a Conservative America is a Myth," documenting how the conventional wisdom that Americans are overwhelmingly conservative is fundamentally false. Through decades of public opinion data from nonpartisan sources, the report shows the majority of Americans hold progressive positions on a broad range of issues.

"This report shows that on issue after issue, most Americans agree with progressives and have for decades, despite what we hear from the media." said David Brock, President and CEO of Media Matters. "The conventional wisdom advanced by the media -- that the United States is becoming more and more conservative -- has been debunked repeatedly by independent public polling, but that hasn't stopped them from perpetuating this clearly flawed perception."

Media Matters and Campaign for America's Future conducted this study by examining the past 20 years of independent, nonpartisan polling data from sources such as the American National Election Studies (NES), the General Social Survey (GSS), and Gallup polls. By compiling all of this data, we have examined not only the top-level conclusions, but the underlying questions asked in each survey.

KEY FINDINGS:

The role of government -- 69 percent of Americans believe the government "should care for those who can't care for themselves"; twice as many people (43 percent vs. 20 percent) want "government to provide many more services even if it means an increase in spending" as want government to provide fewer services "in order to reduce spending."

The economy -- 77 percent of Americans think Congress should increase the minimum wage; 66 percent believe "upper-income people" pay too little in taxes; 53 percent feel the Bush administration's tax cuts have failed because they have increased the deficit and caused cuts in government programs.

Social issues -- 61 percent of Americans support embryonic stem cell research; 62 percent want to protect Roe v. Wade; only 3 percent of Americans rank same-sex marriage as the "most important" social issue.

Security -- 43 percent of Americans say we are spending too much on our military; 60 percent feel the federal government should do more about restricting the kinds of guns that people can purchase.

The environment -- 75 percent of Americans would be wiling to pay more for electricity if it were generated by renewable sources to help reduce global warming; 79 percent want higher emissions standard for automobiles.

Energy -- 52 percent of Americans believe "the best way for the U.S. to reduce its reliance on foreign oil" is to "have the government invest in alternative energy sources"; 68 percent of the public thinks U.S. energy policy is better solved by conservation than production.

Immigration -- 57 percent of Americans feel "most recent immigrants to the U.S. contribute to this country" rather than "cause problems." Sixty-seven percent of Americans feel that "on the whole," immigration is a "good thing for this country today."

Health care -- 69 percent of Americans think it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have access to health coverage; 76 percent find access to health care more important than maintaining the Bush tax cuts; three in five would be willing to have their own taxes increased to achieve universal coverage.

[Dr. Shane]

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Media Matters for America and Campaign for America's Future released a special report...

Information is only as good as its source. This information comes from a tinted well. It is not trustworthy. The issues listed are not even polar issues. That is, issues that draw people to the extremes like abortion or gun control. Using Media Matters as a source of information is like using Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter. A person knows the information they put out is going to be major SPIN.

America has one of the highest ratios of people that attend church on a regular basis in the western world. Americans also contribute more of their money to religious organizations. And, I wish it wasn't true, America is one of the only western countries without universal health care. America is also fighting a long, bloody war with a completely voluntary military - which would be very difficult for a "liberal" nation.

Mr. Brock, Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssse! I am not a top. Don't spin me.

[Neil D]

[Dr. Shane]

Rush Limbaugh once hired Rasmussen to conduct a poll for him. Rasmussen has an excellent reputation and has been as accurate at predicting elections as Gallop or any of the other major polling firms. However before the poll was taken, Limbaugh predicted what its results would be by the wording and focus of his questions. He was right. Although it was a poll done by Rasmussen, it was really a Limbaugh poll.

Again, Media Matters is no more reliable than Ann Coulter or Sean Hanity. If a person wants to give ear to them to hear how the far Left is spinning things that is one thing but to take their information as being newsworthy is being a bit gullible. Media Matters, Micheal Moore, MoveOn.org, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hanity are not interested in objective truth. They are interested in influencing public opinion to be persuaded to their line of thinking. I listen to them and read what they have to say. But I don't swallow anything they say hook, line and sinker. I wasn't born yesterday.

[Gerr]

Yeah, I have become wary about polls. The questions can be worded in such a way that the anwsers would tilt towards the pollster's own bias.

Gerry

[Neil D]

Rush Limbaugh once hired Rasmussen to conduct a poll for him. Rasmussen has an excellent reputation and has been as accurate at predicting elections as Gallop or any of the other major polling firms. However before the poll was taken, Limbaugh predicted what its results would be by the wording and focus of his questions. He was right. Although it was a poll done by Rasmussen, it was really a Limbaugh poll.

Again, Media Matters is no more reliable than Ann Coulter or Sean Hanity. If a person wants to give ear to them to hear how the far Left is spinning things that is one thing but to take their information as being newsworthy is being a bit gullible. Media Matters, Micheal Moore, MoveOn.org, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hanity are not interested in objective truth. They are interested in influencing public opinion to be persuaded to their line of thinking. I listen to them and read what they have to say. But I don't swallow anything they say hook, line and sinker. I wasn't born yesterday.

Media Matter came into existance due to the propoganda of the Right Wing media. David Brock,the founder, who was once an active republican media person, found too many untruths being forwarded to the mainstream public. He found many things uncomfortable with the right, and after doing some investigation on his own, dropped being a republican and saught to counter balance the overwhelming right wing media PR.

Currently, David Brock and the organization called Media Matters, seek to bring back to the center the right wing assumptions of the mainstream media, with realistic journalism, and yes, left of center mainstream views.

The Pew Center is a non-partisan research group, along with Gallup. They have used the same questions on the polls and consistantly got the same results. America, it seems, is more progessive in it's view points than what the conservatives would have you believe.

And Shane, you are attacking the messinger, who brought you the data...I have provided a link to the data...You are as qualified as the messinger to make your own interpretation...

[Dr. Shane]

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And Shane, you are attacking the messenger, who brought you the data...I have provided a link to the data...

If I am "attacking" anyone it is David Brock - not another member on this board. So let's keep that straight.

Yes, David Brock was at once time a big-time, right-wing liar that fed misinformation to the press. I remember when he first published his book, The Real Anita Hill, and I was hesitant about recommending it to others to read at the time. He has since switched sides and now appears to be an even bigger-time, left-wing liar feeding misinformation to the press.

Now America is certainly becoming more liberal. There is no doubt about that. As the nation moves away from Jewish-Christian values and becomes more secular, it is becoming more like Europe. George Bush and the neo-conservatives have done a lot increase the size of government and social programs to help with this shift.

Remember, a neo-conservative is not a traditional conservative. Neo-conservatives embrace large government and domestic social programs. Since the election of G.W. Bush, there has been an increase in the neo-con thinking which is a hybrid of strong-military conservatives and strong-domestic-social-programs liberals. So the results of this study really reflect the impact that neo-conservatives have had on the political landscape over the past decade.

If a group wanted to show America is conservative they could ask questions like "Do you believe abortion is immoral?" Nearly 80% of Americans would answer yes, even though nearly half of them would favor keeping it illegal (but that part doesn't need to be reported). Similar questions regarding gun control, foreign government, immigration, etc. Polls are easy to manipulate.

[Neil D]

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If I am "attacking" anyone it is David Brock - not another member on this board. So let's keep that straight.

If for some reason you misunderstood me, let me be clear..."the messager" is Media Matters, not me.

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Yes, David Brock was at once time a big-time, right-wing liar that fed misinformation to the press. I remember when he first published his book, The Real Anita Hill, and I was hesitant about recommending it to others to read at the time. He has since switched sides and now appears to be an even bigger-time, left-wing liar feeding misinformation to the press.

You forgot to include in your little compendium the reason WHY he switched sides. As for being a "be an even bigger-time, left-wing liar", I will not let you lable him as such IF we are not allowed to lable BUSH a liar. As a Christian, you know that is not a good thing to do.

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Now America is certainly becoming more liberal. There is no doubt about that. As the nation moves away from Jewish-Christian values and becomes more secular, it is becoming more like Europe. George Bush and the neo-conservatives have done a lot increase the size of government and social programs to help with this shift.

While YOU claim that America is moving away from Jewish Christian values, the report tends to show otherwise. If you had bothered to read the report, you would note that the vast majority of Americans are showing values that are within the Jewish Christian Values and can be substanciated as such. I would be interested in knowing where you got your information. I question this rhetoric....As someone who is famous for saying it, "I am not a top. Do not spin me."

[Dr. Shane]

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The role of government -- 69 percent of Americans believe the government "should care for those who can't care for themselves"

This is consistent with the neo-con agenda. Not surprising. In fact, I would have thought the number would be a little higher when one combines the liberals and neo-cons that believe this way.

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77 percent of Americans think Congress should increase the minimum wage

Again, I am surprised the number isn't higher. The neo-cons had been trying to raise minimum wage and were always blocked by Democrats because they didn't want a neo-con Congress and a neo-con President to get credit. We have no went the longest without raising the minimum wage since it was established. Not surprising the overwhelming majority of Americans favor increasing it.

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66 percent believe "upper-income people" pay too little in taxes; 53 percent feel the Bush administration's tax cuts have failed because they have increased the deficit and caused cuts in government programs.

Most people don't understand economics. These number do, however reflect a much more divided America. Only 53% believe Bush's tax cuts have failed? That in light of the fact that 1) Bush has done a miserable job of defending his policies. 2) His enemies have ruthlessly attacked him. 3) Most people don't understand economics 4) 66% think the rich don't pay enough taxes.

The flip side of this poll would be to ask how many Americans would like to pay the taxes that many European countries pay. More for gas? More sales tax? Few Americans would actually desire to give up more of their own personal income to adopt the social policies of Europe, with the exception of health care and that is only because we are now giving our dollars to insurance companies so it isn't such an issue of giving more but to whom it goes.

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61 percent of Americans support embryonic stem cell research

A lot of conservatives support this. G.W. Bush is in the minority and knows it but he is staying true to his religious convictions and one can hardly fault him for that.

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62 percent want to protect Roe v. Wade

Looks like a bit of SPIN there. It would be interesting to see how that question was asked. I follow a lot of these polls and the highest numbers I have seen for pro-choice are 55% but even most of them believe 1) abortion is morally wrong. 2) States should be able to pass laws restricting it. I don't know if we want to call that statistic a liberal one or not. Only about 25% favor keeping abortion-on-demand legal which is what Roe v. Wade established.

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only 3 percent of Americans rank same-sex marriage as the "most important" social issue.

Big time SPIN here. Why didn't they simple ask the question of whether the people approved of gay marriage? Well, if they asked that they wouldn't get the answer they want. So that ask if the people rank same-sex marriage as one of the most important social issues. Then they get the result they are looking for. This is the kind of SPIN and dishonest information David Brock is known for.

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75 percent of Americans would be wiling to pay more for electricity if it were generated by renewable sources to help reduce global warming; 79 percent want higher emissions standard for automobiles.

First - Liberals want the environment to be one of their issues, like minimum wage. However it isn't and as time goes by more and more conservatives are jumping on the environmental band wagon. Second - given the uproar we heard over the increase in gas prices, these statistics are very hard to believe. Makes one what the questions were and who was being asked.

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43 percent of Americans say we are spending too much on our military

This is because the war in Iraq is going bad. As soon as the terrorists attack us again this number will drop under 30%.

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60 percent feel the federal government should do more about restricting the kinds of guns that people can purchase.

This is pretty accurate however it isn't saying what liberals want us to believe it is. The vast majority of Americans favor keeping guns legal. The scary thing is that 40% of Americans believe we should have the right to buy machine guns.

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57 percent of Americans feel "most recent immigrants to the U.S. contribute to this country" rather than "cause problems." Sixty-seven percent of Americans feel that "on the whole," immigration is a "good thing for this country today."

While I can include myself in those numbers, I have seen statistics much different. Makes one wonder again how they are getting people to answer this way or who they are asking.

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three in five would be willing to have their own taxes increased to achieve universal coverage.

That is only 60% I don't think people grasp that if we pay for health care as a payroll deduction, our companies will be able to pay us more of a salary.

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76 percent find access to health care more important than maintaining the Bush tax cuts

That is a big red SPIN flag right there. Why would a pollster compare universal health care to the Bush tax cuts? One has nothing to do with the other except in the mind of an anti-Bushite.

[Dr. Shane]

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I will not let you lable him as such IF we are not allowed to lable BUSH a liar.

Instead of saying "I will not let you..." one might want to use friendly words and say "I would ask of you..." and that is fair enough. Liar tends to describe motives and none of us know the motives of others. Misinformation and misleading are a better terms. David Brock has made a living for a long time by misleading others.

Now this idea that he switched sides because the right-wing was putting out misinformation is prosperous. Who is gullible enough to believe that? That is like saying that I switched from being a Seventh-day Adventist to being a Wiccan because I didn't feel the Adventists were being honest in their evangelistic efforts. Why would a person abandon their core beliefs because of what other people with the same beliefs are doing?

[Neil D]

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I will not let you lable him as such IF we are not allowed to lable BUSH a liar.

Instead of saying "I will not let you..." one might want to use friendly words and say "I would ask of you..." and that is fair enough. Liar tends to describe motives and none of us know the motives of others. Misinformation and misleading are a better terms. David Brock has made a living for a long time by misleading others.

[Dr. Shane]

I am saying that David Brock ,as a conservative had a reputation for putting out misinformation and David Brock as a liberal has a reputation for putting out misinformation. I do not see any conversation that has taken place. That said, it does appear that David Brock's liberal misinformation is earing him a lot more $$$ than his conservative misinformation did so I guess it is working for him.

[Neil D]

I am saying that David Brock ,as a conservative had a reputation for putting out misinformation and David Brock as a liberal has a reputation for putting out misinformation. I do not see any conversation that has taken place. That said, it does appear that David Brock's liberal misinformation is earing him a lot more $$$ than his conservative misinformation did so I guess it is working for him.

I was pointing out that David Brock had a "conversion" as in convert, religious experience...not conversation.

Nevertheless, you are saying that the reason David Brock is bringing out this PR against the conservatives is for MONEY!!!!!

And that the liberals have a lot of money out there to not only fund all the other things that they are funding, but David Brock as well!!!

Well, my assessment of your assessment is-

1] re: the money angle...your reaching. The evidence is so much more contrary to your assessement that there is NO contest.

2] you are judging the man as being in this PR business for totally business reasons, ie to make money, and because of that, he is a totally cold, humorless person. The evidence of that is baseless. In fact, when listening to him, he is a very warm individual with lots of humor. And there is much more to David Brock that what your PR machine is putting out.

3] Your assessment of David Brock, says OOOHh so much more about YOU, than about David Brock.

[Dr. Shane]

I am just offering an honest opinion. Media Matters is in my bookmarks and a visit their site. I have read a lot of what they put out and they are quite guilty of selective reporting. They SPIN as much as Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh. Often times they do make points that no one else is making and in that way they serve a purpose. However a caution is appropriate: consumer beware.