There is No Left
Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair
CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten reported recently, “When we’re talking about 42% of Democrats under the age of 35 identifying as democratic socialists and a third of all Democrats … my goodness gracious.”
Enten then concluded, “The Democrats are moving to the left, the far left is gaining power.”
This is the language Americans have become accustomed to. Talk of the far left prevails in the political discourse. But what is Enten talking about? What is any pundit talking about?
As the essay’s title indicates, there is no left. If we calibrate the center to sync with public opinion, as we should, we find two-thirds of Americans at the liberal center. Yes, you read that correctly: the liberal center.
Understanding that, one finds both major parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, well to the right of the population. In other words, all of Congress, 100 percent of it, is to the right of the mostly liberal population.
There is not one lawmaker on Capitol Hill who is one millimeter to the left of the liberal center. Yes, there are small leftist political parties, but they have meager numbers and basically receive no votes.
In the political discourse we are bombarded by talk of the far left. Included in this fictional category is Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, et al.
None of these politicians are a leftist. Bernie can call himself a socialist all he wants; I can call myself a world-renowned pastry chef, but this does not make it so. He is a 1940s liberal Democrat and nothing more. Same for AOC and the rest of the gang.
It is true; the Democrats are moving to the left, toward the center. The second part is crucial. They are not drifting into some Marxist dreamworld. They are drifting slowly toward what most working Americans want. On the other hand, the Republicans are drifting rightward away from public opinion under the banner of “conservatism.”
What free money for the ultra-wealthy, racism, anti-LGBTQ sentiment, and deficit spending have to do with conservative politics remains a mystery. What is also a mystery is why working Americans who have bills to pay support this socialism for the rich, these bigoted scare tactics, and bad economics.
The detailed public-opinion record meticulously tells us what Americans want. This is not a secret. The data are published in every top-tier paper in the country (including this one). We know well what Americans prefer, need, and reject.
When one attends to the public-opinion record, something quite surprising emerges: the reality that the country is not divided. It might be divided at the election booth; but when the conversation is removed from party politics, a remarkable level of agreement comes into view. The land of 49 percent becomes the land of 67 percent. We are not divided.
If you’ll indulge me, here’s a smattering of the data in no particular order: 70 percent of Americans favor raising the minimum wage; 55 percent desire free public college; 65 percent desire addressing “now” the rich-poor gap; 68 percent seek raising taxes on people earning more than $1 million per year; 58 percent want Medicare-for-all universal healthcare; 55 percent support a US–Iran diplomatic agreement; 85 percent feel a woman has the right to a legal abortion (including “certain circumstances”); 69 percent believe corporations pay too little in taxes; and 66 percent support loan forgiveness for students.
I should point out there does exist a division; there is a conflict that exists between the population and Washington. But when we are repeatedly told that Americans are divided, this is not quite what pundits have in mind.
Simply put, Americans are not getting what they want. For all the promises, speechifying, and ceremonies, the working class, which is most of the United States, does not live in the country it wants. Most people are law-abiding and decent. They desire and deserve a better life. In a country that boasts a $30 trillion GDP, there are plenty of resources to make people’s lives better. Is that leftist of me to point out?
It turns out that liberal Millennials have a strong sense as to the direction this country should be headed. They will be branded as leftists and Marxists, but the opinions of the liberal Millennials are merely centrist. As a cohort, what they want is practically identical to what about two-thirds of Americans want.
But CNN and other news outlets will gasp and express anxiety and horror at the Democrats actually becoming a labor party. Imagine, Capitol Hill tending to the wants and needs of the electorate. Imagine much less poverty and fear. Imagine a healthcare system that covers everyone. Imagine a drastic reduction in gun violence. Imagine an equally drastic reduction of wealth inequality. My goodness gracious.
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