>From: "Nathan Newman" <nathan at newman.org>
>Which is again this ridiculous idea that all social advances have ground to
>a halt, an almost willful wallowing in the idea of left failure when the
>reality is a much more mixed bag. ... The list goes on in most fields --
>some
>losses, some gains, a continuing struggle.
-A continuing struggle, yes. But the debate itself has been redefined. For -over a generation now the basic social policy agenda has been set by the -right.
Again, I don't buy it. They have made advances in controlling political institutions, such as the Congress, which naturally gives them more control of the public agenda, but on issues from environmentalism to gay rights to immigrant rights, you have trouble convincing me that the average person is more conservative today than they were a quarter century ago. ANWR drilling is going down to defeat in the Senate because of the enviro consensus and we have two latinos vying for the Democratic nomination in Texas, when La Raza could barely win city council races back then.
To repeat, the most salient change from twenty-five years ago is not public opinion but the tactical advance of the GOP into control of Congress, largely due to the movement of southern white conservatives into their column. Public opinion - except on a few issues like the death penalty - is about as liberal on most issues as back then. Ferguson and Rogers RIGHT TURN detailed carefully how little the Reagan ascendancy had to do with any fundamental shift to the right in public views.
What has shifted is that the Right has organized carefully to take control of public institutions like Congress in order to control what is being voted on, which sets the practical debate of what is possible. The fact is that having Democrats controlling the Senate gives us a debate on ANWR and judicial nominees-- give Trent Lott control of the Rules Committee and the debate changes. The media doesn't follow noble backbench speeches but follows the practical question of what is likely to pass or not pass as legislation.
-- Nathan Newman