R.I.P. GOP?

Media Matters says conservatism in America is on the wane.

by Mary F. Patel

The Washington-based media critic/liberal think tank Media Matters for America just released a report stating that the nation is moving more and more to the left and that conservatism may be a product of a bygone era.

A year out from the presidential elections, Media Matters, along with the Campaign for America's Future, recently published "The Progressive Majority: Why a Conservative America is a Myth."

This is good news for liberals who are looking for the next best thing to lead the country next year.

The report uses decades of public opinion data on social, economic and foreign policy issues to destroy the myth that the American people are conservative. They are, in fact, progressive on issue after issue and are growing more progressive with each passing year.

Paul Waldman of Media Matters, one of the report's authors, said they decided to write it in the wake of news coverage claiming that most of America is conservative.

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"We see this often, reporters making assumptions with postelection analysis from the 2004 and 2002 elections: If the Republicans win, then it's because there are more conservatives; if the Democrats win, then they are lucky."

The report opens with this quote from Mark Halperin of ABC News: "Republicans tend to be conservative on both [economic and social issues]. That's been a strength in a conservative country."

Waldman said this assumption is not accurate because more and more Americans are leaning liberal.

"Most of the conservatives are older, while the younger generation is not," he said.

The report concludes that "journalists straining to interpret 2006 as a validation of conservatism were following a pattern they had established long before: Democratic victories are understood as the product of the Democrats moving to the right, while Republican victories are the product of a conservative electorate."

The report covers a broad spectrum of topics, including the economy, abortion, homosexuality, security, the environment and energy. It's based on data from the National Election Studies, Pew Research Center, the Gallup Poll and polls from CNN and The New York Times.

In the case of the social issue of domestic partnership, Waldman said that most people now accept it, while five or 10 years ago, most people did not. Waldman said mixed races marrying, women working and women getting equal pay are examples of issues that no one thinks twice about anymore.

National demographics were used in the report, although a breakdown by state was not available.

Waldman said there was no special timing to the release of the report, although officials at Media Matters thought it better to get the information out now rather than wait until closer to next year's election.

This report could be the Democrats' best possible weapon against conservative GOPs next year as eight candidates gun for the Democratic presidential nomination. But is the nation ready for some of the ultraliberals who are running? Front-runner Hillary Clinton was leaning towards more moderate positions in order to appeal to a broader cross section of the electorate, particularly given her pioneering position as a woman. However, in doing that Clinton risks taking a beating in the popular liberal blogs, such as Arianna Huffington's Huffington Post. The second most popular Democratic presidential contender, Barack Obama, is radically liberal with no sidebars.

On the Republican side, John McCain supporters have accused Rudolph Giuliani of being too far to the left.

Whether "The Progressive Majority" report will have any impact remains to be seen, but the media will always play an enormous role in the dissemination of political information.

Waldman said it was not his intention to bash the press.

"We believe in journalism," he said � just not, presumably, the conservative "misinformation" Media Matters is dedicated to monitoring, analyzing and correcting.

(rcpatel@aol.com)