Who Will He Hear?
by digby
If you want an example of how the media plays into their simple narratives, you will note the difference between the way they've played the special elections.
For instance, in this year of alleged Republican insurgency, the Democrats have actually won three congressional seats. Did you know that? I doubt that most people do. And while I completely understand the focus on the Scott Brown race for the symbolism of the "Kennedy seat", the reading of the electorate in Massachusetts as requiring a sharp turn to the right is not born out by polls there or, even more interestingly, by the election last night in Oregon, which also has an electorate of similar bent to Massachusetts.
They voted yesterday to raise taxes on the wealthy. And Oregon hasn't voted to raise taxes since 1930. If that's a turn to the right, then we are all teabaggers now.
Robert Cruikshank at Calitics writes:
The opposition ran a well-funded campaign, led by Nike, Columbia Sportswear, and other big businesses. They were joined by Ari Fleischer's FreedomWorks and the libertarian publisher of the Oregonian, who used to be at the Orange County Register before it went belly-up. Together they ran a campaign arguing that the tax increases would worsen unemployment. But 55% of voters have rejected that, and instead showed that when a truly progressive campaign is waged, the right-wingers can be beaten. Even on taxes.
What it also shows is that progressive policies, supported by smart progressive organizing led by folks such as former US Senate candidate Steve Novick and the Oregon Bus Project, which reached out to younger voters and had a strong ground game, can beat well-funded, well-organized corporate/teabagger alliances.
Their message was deeply progressive:
These reforms protect nearly $1 billion in vital services like education, health care and public safety. These funds preserve class sizes, save jobs for teachers, provide seniors with in-home care, and provide health care for thousands of Oregonians through the Oregon Health Plan. In this time of economic crisis, we must protect those who have been hit the hardest - seniors, children and the unemployed - without putting more of a burden on the middle class.
This doesn't fit with the mainstream media's preferred storyline which has voter anger at Washington defined as a repudiation of liberalism. Indeed, today the gasbags are saying that in tonight's State of the Union address, "Obama must" emulate Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton and ... repudiate liberalism. And yet, out in Oregon yesterday, a state that hasn't voted to raise taxes since 1930, the people voted for an extremely progressive initiative.
One wonders what might happen if the president showed some courage and repudiated the village instead.
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