Stop calling the American right the "center"

[mudesi]

There is no real liberal representation in the American government. Those to call themselves "centrists" are, in reality, substantially to the right of center. Hillary (and Bill, for that matter) is not in the center, not even close. Dennis Kucinich is the only one on the left, while the rest of the Democratic presidential candidates are on the right.

The Republicans, meanwhile, are all (with very few exceptions) extremely far to the right. The choice, it seems to be, is a choice between the far right and the not so far right. There is no left wing party to choose from. That's not to say that there are not many liberal Democrats, but they are not in control of the party, and they are not the majority of the party.

It's possible, I suppose -though I don't know how true- that most Americans are in fact, not liberal. I see people every day in the mainstream media who call themselves "centrists", when in fact, they are not in the center at all. (Of course, the media has everything to do with this false perception!). But I also know, personally in my own family, some people who call themselves centrists while they are anything but. They support capital punishment, unrestricted access to guns, limits on abortion, and the "right" for America to bomb any country she feels like, given the "proper reason". That is not the center. Not even close.

[Lex]

1. Hear hear!

I agree.

[ananda]

2. Totally agree.

Thanks.

[TahitiNut]

3. See my post at ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1524940&mesg_id=1527375

[Selatius]

4. Most people are attuned to populists, not so much liberals though.

You could win on a populist platform because it often advocates many of the economic programs that liberals also champion, yet the big difference between the two being that populists generally aren't champions of gay rights or reproductive rights.

[IDemo]

5. good article by Will Durst on this topic

http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/58824/?comments=view&cID=707732&pID=707663#c707732

[Individualist]

6. Centrist is a label DLCers hide behind

[Richard Steele]

7. "By today's standards, Richard Nixon governed as a moderate liberal."- George McGovern

No, most US Citizens are actually quite liberal when asked
their opinions on the issues. The "center" is a fictional
creation of a tiny radical RIGHT-WING minority, and it is
used as bait to pull our most shameleesly pandering politicians
ever rightward.

There is no "Left" to speak of amongst the elected officials
of a nation of 70 percent leftists. THAT is the RW's greatest
achievement.

THEY controlled the LANGUAGE; and eventually they controlled everything else.

[HereSince1628]

8. The "center" has been a moving target since 1980.

As the right has gotten more and more extreme, popular conception of central tendency has operated a lot like an arithmetic mean, biased by consideration of the far-right out-liers.

During the 1980's and through the 1990's being a "moderate" was considered a badge of reasonableness. You will find many many "independent moderates" among the graying baby-boomers.

Accept that or reject it, but the reality seems to be that "central tendency" does not occupy a fixed place in ideology. Radical opinion biases popular notions of centrists, "Nixon/Reagan looks pretty good compared to Cheney and his NeoCon Puppet Show."

This Nation's ideological origins and it's salvation from the current crisis have much more to do with Enlightenment values than anachronistic appeals to Economic Neoliberalism and Religious Fundamentalism.

[Ian_rd]

9. Actually, Kucinich's policy positions are more reliably shared by most voters than other candidates

But if asked if they support Kucinich by name? "No way! He's a loony tunes fringe wacko radical leftist freak!" Thank you, Mainstream Media.

[TwilightZone]

10. "Hillary is not in the center" is a true statement, but she's left of center, not right.

http://ontheissues.org/Hillary_Clinton.htm

Scroll to the bottom.

[struggle4progress]

14. The assessments at that site may speak for themselves: Clinton and Obama are "hard-core"

while a right-wing wacko McCain is merely "populist-leaning"

These delicate assessments seem to be based on "objective" judgments of the form "voted liberal line on ..."

[Cyrano]

11. Reagan moved the "center" so far to the right, that anyone

to the left of Caligula is now considered (by many) to be "far-left, commie, hippie, abortion-loving, child-molesting, gay-marriage perverts who hate America and want to see our enemies win."

This is the crap the Republicans have been peddling for 30 years now and what's surprising is that there are still people out there who are brain-dead enough to buy it.

[bvar22]

12. K&R

Where is "The Center"?

The following ic close to two years old. The "Center" has moved LEFT since this was compiled, especially in HealthCare.
Here is what the MAJORITY of Americans (Democrats AND Republicans) want from OUR government!

In recent polls by the Pew Research Group, the Opinion Research Corporation, the Wall Street Journal, and CBS News, the American majority has made clear how it feels. Look at how the majority feels about some of the issues that you'd think would be gospel to a real Democratic Party:

1. 65 percent (of ALL Americans, Democrats AND Republicans) say the government should guarantee health insurance for everyone -- even if it means raising taxes.

2. 86 percent favor raising the minimum wage (including 79 percent of selfdescribed "social conservatives").

3. 60 percent favor repealing either all of Bush's tax cuts or at least those cuts that went to the rich.

4. 66 percent would reduce the deficit not by cutting domestic spending but by reducing Pentagon spending or raising taxes.

5. 77 percent believe the country should do "whatever it takes" to protect the environment.

6. 87 percent think big oil corporations are gouging consumers, and 80 percent (including 76 percent of Republicans) would support a windfall profits tax on the oil giants if the revenues went for more research on alternative fuels.

7. 69 percent agree that corporate offshoring of jobs is bad for the U.S. economy (78 percent of "disaffected" voters think this), and only 22% believe offshoring is good because "it keeps costs down."


http://alternet.org/wiretap/29788/

8. Over 63% oppose the War on the Iraqi People.

9. 92% of ALL Americans support TRANSPARENT, VERIFIABLE elections!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x446445

The above supports the OP.
While all of the current candidates agree with some of the above, only Dennis Kucinich gets a perfect score.
That makes Dennis Kucinich a "Centrist".
ALL the other candidates are Right of Center.


The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

[bvar22]

13. dupe

"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans. I want us to compete for that great mass of voters that want a party that will stand up for working Americans, family farmers, and people who haven't felt the benefits of the economic upturn."---Paul Wellstone