When I read stuff like this:

[Number23]

"When asked which party they want to control Congress, voters are split or leaning toward Republicans, national surveys say. Perhaps even more ominously for Democrats, voters are overwhelmingly sour about national issues, especially the economy.

More than 60 percent said the nation was in a state of decline and on the wrong track in the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, in which voters likely to turn out in November gave Republicans a gaping 9-point edge when asked which party they wanted to control Congress."

From "Grim outlook for Democrats puts House up for grabs"

it is very easy to come to two conclusions.

1) There are alot of terribly confused and/or clueless people in the United States; and

2) Is it not apparent to everyone who reads these numbers that the reason Obama/Dems nationwide are having problems is because the majority of the American public views them as TOO LIBERAL? When 60% of the voting public says they want to put power back in the hands of the Republicans because of health care reform or some other "socialist" Obama policy, how in the sweet Sam Hill could any thinking person look at that and conclude that the President and the Dem leadership need to become even MORE liberal?

I read this board and I don't understand what more than a few people are thinking. They scream for Obama to move even further "to the left" apparently at his own and the Democratic Party's peril. Why would people who claim to desperately want a progressive agenda encourage something that would jeopardize the very thing that they say they want???

How do you push the government further to the left without scaring and/or alienating a majority of the voting public which thinks "left" is the last place this country needs to be?

[quiet.american]

1. I hear you, Number 23. MSM/Limbaugh/Beck don't help with the confusion.

People used to think with their brains, but today it seems it's all about emotion, with the primary emotion peddled being fear.

I think the GOP figured out that there is no shortage of crazy people who think FAUX, Beck and Limbaugh are genius, and that that is their key constituency -- if they can give these folks an excuse to indulge themselves in their very worst qualities, then they can win races.

And we know it's not so much Democrats being "left" that people react to, but the constant misrepresentation and fearmongering that goes on about Democratic initiatives that comes from hate radio/hate tv - which people allow themselves to buy into. But you're right -- as much as people don't want to hear it, as far as the "average voter" is concerned, the Democratic Party is already very much the left, just as the Republican Party is very much the right.

If Limbaugh et al. were so successful at whipping people up into a "the socialists are coming!!!!" lather over bi-partisan-crafted HCR, and other legislation that represented a good deal of Republican ideas, too, then how in the world do you sell something like nationalizing the banks, single-payer, nationalizing the auto industry, etc.

You just don't. Not in this political environment.

Edited to add:

Oh, and that said, there's still some hope that there are more thinking people than not -- Steve Benen has an item up on his blog that points out the latest Gallup shows the GOP 10-point lead erased, and Democrats & Republicans now evenly matched for the mid-terms! But as always, Benen says just take it with a grain of salt, because it's going to swing wildly from week to week.

[Number23]

3. Yes!

And we know it's not so much Democrats being "left" that people react to, but the constant misrepresentation and fearmongering that goes on about Democratic initiatives that comes from hate radio/hate tv

Absolutely! So in this environment, progressive legislation almost has to be passed in stealth mode. Obama/the Dems can't come out and say "we're passing the most liberal legislation in the last 60 years." If they did that, even if it BENEFITED the vast majority of the American populace, the Limbaughs/Becks/Coulters/Hannity's etc of the world would make damn sure that there would still be rioting in the streets.

The combination of a woefully uneducated population being led and manipulated by either a complacent media (ABC etc) or a downright hostile media (Fox etc) is terrifying. Even Democrats are feeling the heat, particularly those representing conservative areas. It must be tremendously difficult for Democrats to pass any type of legislation let alone progressive ones. I am in awe of what Obama/the Dems has accomplished so far. There is still much to do but these folks do deserve a bit of credit.

Steve Benen has an item up on his blog that points out the latest Gallup shows the GOP 10-point lead erased

Well there's a bit of good news. Thanks, qa! :)

[quiet.american]

4. Well said, Number 23, and cheers! nt

:hi:

[elleng]

2. Can't expect 'logic' in these matters, unfortunately.

[treestar]

5. So true! It's been two years since the election and so why would

A repub congress now help? People are idiots. The Rs caused the problems. so they aren't being solved fast enough, so let's put the Rs back in. Morans all.

[Number23]

6. That same ahem..."logic" led so many to conclude that the reason that Scott Brown

won in Massachusetts earlier this year was because Coakley, the Democrat, wasn't "liberal enough." Quite easily the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

"The Democrat isn't liberal enough so I'm going to vote for the Republican. The Dem will only take us to a 5 on a liberal scale of 1-10 so I'm going to vote for the person who will put us at -427 on that same scale." That was actually the gist of some people's explanation for what happened. 9 months later and I still shake my head at how half-assed and stupid that type of reasoning is.