1. According to Pew Research Center, the culturally liberal make up about 40%, predominantly white, and of majority female, of all Democratic voters, but only 19% of all registered voters. So, why are so few Americans eager to identify themselves as liberals?
2. According to Eric Alterman, it is because well-funded foundations, newspapers, gossip columnists [ almost all cable-news shows (p. 74)] have made a concerted effort to vilify and dishonor the term liberal, associating it with all manner of weakness, treachery, and immorality .and paint cultural liberals as effete, elitist, arrogant, and prone to meddle in the lives of those for whose values they feel contempt. Alterman, Why Were Liberals, p. 73-74.
a. Of course, liberal linguist Professor George Lakoff compunds the problem, in his book Don't Think of an Elephant!, when he speaks of progressives framing policy in a nurturing and cooperative manner, as opposed to those mean conservatives who rely on a more competitive, strict father rendition.
3. As a result of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, white middle- and working-class voters simply refuse to vote for a party they associate with black and brown people. Ibid. Unlike much of Altermans book, this proclamation does not come with any links or data
a. Lets not forget that starting in the early 70s, liberals heralded that they were a coalition of victims, demanding redress from the system, rather than a movement that represented the interests of most Americans. The result was a degree of resentment from those who felt themselves forced to make sacrifices they could ill afford. That continues today. See Sotomayor/firemen: Judge Sotomayor and the Supreme Court's Firefighter Ruling - TIME
b. First, is there a better expression of what I called checklist liberalism than most of the key inner constituencies, advocacy groups within the Democratic Party : the AFL-CIO, the League of Conservation Voters, Defenders of Wildlife, Human Rights Campaign, NARAL, Planned Parenthood PAC. The Decembrist: A Last Few Words on Connecticut
4. The championing of abortion in every permutation has proven a disadvantage: in vetoing the partial-birth-abortion ban, President Clinton defied majority public opinion. This has identified liberals with an unpopular position with voters who for reasons of religion or philosophy oppose it, and strengthened the perception that liberals are antireligious, antidemocratic, and indifferent to the views of the electorate. Edsall, Building Red America, p. 236.
5. Since 1972, liberals have jettisoned any attempts to mend fences with the religious community. In 72 only 5% of Americans [would claim] to be secular, 24% of first-time Democratic delegates that year were self-identified agnostics, atheists, or people who rarely, if ever, set foot in a house of worship. This activist base encouraged a growing number of Democratic politicians to tone down their appeal to religious voters [and had] little regard for traditionalist sensitivities. George Rodriguez. The Democrats Unreligious Fringe, LATimes, July 16, 2006.
a. Is there some advantage to affirming views in opposition to the personal belief systems of so many voters? Consider, 23% of those polled on election day of 2002 described themselves as born again or evangelical Christians, who vote on moral issues, and chose George W. Bush 78-21. Again, no respect for the body politic.
2. According to Eric Alterman, it is because well-funded foundations, newspapers, gossip columnists [ almost all cable-news shows (p. 74)] have made a concerted effort to vilify and dishonor the term liberal, associating it with all manner of weakness, treachery, and immorality .and paint cultural liberals as effete, elitist, arrogant, and prone to meddle in the lives of those for whose values they feel contempt. Alterman, Why Were Liberals, p. 73-74.
a. Of course, liberal linguist Professor George Lakoff compunds the problem, in his book Don't Think of an Elephant!, when he speaks of progressives framing policy in a nurturing and cooperative manner, as opposed to those mean conservatives who rely on a more competitive, strict father rendition.
3. As a result of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, white middle- and working-class voters simply refuse to vote for a party they associate with black and brown people. Ibid. Unlike much of Altermans book, this proclamation does not come with any links or data
a. Lets not forget that starting in the early 70s, liberals heralded that they were a coalition of victims, demanding redress from the system, rather than a movement that represented the interests of most Americans. The result was a degree of resentment from those who felt themselves forced to make sacrifices they could ill afford. That continues today. See Sotomayor/firemen: Judge Sotomayor and the Supreme Court's Firefighter Ruling - TIME
b. First, is there a better expression of what I called checklist liberalism than most of the key inner constituencies, advocacy groups within the Democratic Party : the AFL-CIO, the League of Conservation Voters, Defenders of Wildlife, Human Rights Campaign, NARAL, Planned Parenthood PAC. The Decembrist: A Last Few Words on Connecticut
4. The championing of abortion in every permutation has proven a disadvantage: in vetoing the partial-birth-abortion ban, President Clinton defied majority public opinion. This has identified liberals with an unpopular position with voters who for reasons of religion or philosophy oppose it, and strengthened the perception that liberals are antireligious, antidemocratic, and indifferent to the views of the electorate. Edsall, Building Red America, p. 236.
5. Since 1972, liberals have jettisoned any attempts to mend fences with the religious community. In 72 only 5% of Americans [would claim] to be secular, 24% of first-time Democratic delegates that year were self-identified agnostics, atheists, or people who rarely, if ever, set foot in a house of worship. This activist base encouraged a growing number of Democratic politicians to tone down their appeal to religious voters [and had] little regard for traditionalist sensitivities. George Rodriguez. The Democrats Unreligious Fringe, LATimes, July 16, 2006.
a. Is there some advantage to affirming views in opposition to the personal belief systems of so many voters? Consider, 23% of those polled on election day of 2002 described themselves as born again or evangelical Christians, who vote on moral issues, and chose George W. Bush 78-21. Again, no respect for the body politic.
