It's funny, I was just discussing with Deci this evening about how McCarthy was probably largely to blame for the shift in the Overton Window in US politics. =_=
Sure. We were comparing to Canadian politics, where people are really not shy of being lefty in public. In fact, there are currently three major left-leaning or leftist political parties up there (Green, Liberal*, NDP), and only one major right-leaning party (the Conservatives). In spite of the fact that they still use first past the post for most of their voting (and thus the left parties are vote-splitting), the liberal parties have a significant effect on public policy in Canada. The Conservatives are what you might call a centrist, or even left-leaning centrist party in the US. They can't avoid it, because even with vote splitting, it's clear the majority of the country is left-leaning, and at least the Liberals would eat their breakfast if they pushed too hard right.
(* The Liberals in BC are like... a rebranded Conservatives. No idea.)
In contrast, in the US, the Democrats are a giant exercise in "pleaaaaase don't vote against us" while the Republicans very much have an "f.u. pull hard right" thing going on. The Democrats act like they mustn't upset the voters, who are "obviously" right-leaning, if they ever want to see seats again. Which is weird, because from everything I've seen lately, there aren't many centrist voters left in the US, and Grandma Trumplove isn't going to vote Democrats no matter how milquetoast they act. Republicans are teaching her what to fear and she believes in them for dear life.
The Democrats' only base is left-leaning voters at this point, who they aren't trying very hard to please. I can only speak for myself, but at this point I am voting against Republicans, who are repugnant to me and my rights (and the rights of many others), rather than specifically for Democrats. There are some great Democrats out there, don't get me wrong, but the party as a whole is loathe to upset anyone, and in doing so, they are not getting elected as much as they could.
So the discussion came back to: why is this so different in each place? I mean, the culture is different, yes, but not so much so that you'd expect to see such a difference across a relatively open border.
My take on the situation is that McCarthy started the Overton Window shifting right in this country inexorably with his red scare crap. It became something you didn't want to admit openly, being a leftist here. And I think that cultural zeitgeist never really left us. Democrats are ultimately afraid of being branded as Communists if they push for things like universal healthcare, minimum income guarantee, etc. The Republicans have been working for decades to make things like that swear words, NSFW, things you don't talk about in polite company. Democrats think they will somehow upset these mythical centrist voters by doing so. They could be pulling the whole discourse back left hard, if they wanted to. Instead, they're letting the Republicans pull it right hard by complaining about the antics of the Republicans rather than making real policy challenges and giving their base someone to root for.
(Again, lots of notable exceptions, especially in this recent election, and that's pretty much my hope at this point. That a finally significant number of Millennials will take the party over.)
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Date: Nov. 8th, 2018 04:58 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: Nov. 8th, 2018 05:27 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: Nov. 8th, 2018 05:45 am (UTC)From:(* The Liberals in BC are like... a rebranded Conservatives. No idea.)
In contrast, in the US, the Democrats are a giant exercise in "pleaaaaase don't vote against us" while the Republicans very much have an "f.u. pull hard right" thing going on. The Democrats act like they mustn't upset the voters, who are "obviously" right-leaning, if they ever want to see seats again. Which is weird, because from everything I've seen lately, there aren't many centrist voters left in the US, and Grandma Trumplove isn't going to vote Democrats no matter how milquetoast they act. Republicans are teaching her what to fear and she believes in them for dear life.
The Democrats' only base is left-leaning voters at this point, who they aren't trying very hard to please. I can only speak for myself, but at this point I am voting against Republicans, who are repugnant to me and my rights (and the rights of many others), rather than specifically for Democrats. There are some great Democrats out there, don't get me wrong, but the party as a whole is loathe to upset anyone, and in doing so, they are not getting elected as much as they could.
So the discussion came back to: why is this so different in each place? I mean, the culture is different, yes, but not so much so that you'd expect to see such a difference across a relatively open border.
My take on the situation is that McCarthy started the Overton Window shifting right in this country inexorably with his red scare crap. It became something you didn't want to admit openly, being a leftist here. And I think that cultural zeitgeist never really left us. Democrats are ultimately afraid of being branded as Communists if they push for things like universal healthcare, minimum income guarantee, etc. The Republicans have been working for decades to make things like that swear words, NSFW, things you don't talk about in polite company. Democrats think they will somehow upset these mythical centrist voters by doing so. They could be pulling the whole discourse back left hard, if they wanted to. Instead, they're letting the Republicans pull it right hard by complaining about the antics of the Republicans rather than making real policy challenges and giving their base someone to root for.
(Again, lots of notable exceptions, especially in this recent election, and that's pretty much my hope at this point. That a finally significant number of Millennials will take the party over.)
That's just my opinion.