Shaun Kenney | Politics and Religion in Virginia's Public Square

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Friday, June 20, 2003 FOX Envy and the Liberal Establishment In the Wall Street Journal's Best of the Web, there is a rather lengthy post concerning Algore (one word) and his attempts to create a liberal cable television news channel. While the article points out the obvious liberal media outlets that already exist, it points to a larger phenomena that the Dems just haven't grasped yet: Yes, there are those who deny that the "mainstream" media are liberal, or even assert they tilt to the right--a laughable claim by our lights, but if there's an underserved market for unabashedly left-wing news and commentary, we can hardly begrudge Gore or other entrepreneurs from trying to meet it. We just doubt that such a market exists. In the late 1980s we worked briefly for the Heritage Foundation, the Washington think tank best known for its aggressive marketing of conservative ideas. In those days we read lots of news articles about folks who hoped to establish a liberal counterpart to the Heritage Foundation. The other week we were in Washington and dropped in on Heritage, where a friend in the PR department told us that nothing's changed: Liberals are still trying to figure out the secret of Heritage's success and imitate it. Why haven't they been able to do it? Here's why: Heritage was founded in the early 1970s, when liberalism reigned so supreme in American politics that the Democrats had dominated Capitol Hill almost continuously for 40 years. Like Fox News Channel today, Heritage owed its vitality in large part to its role as an alternative to the establishment. Liberal Democrats today, by contrast, still have an establishmentarian mindset, and one can't really blame them: Although the Republicans now hold the White House and both houses of Congress, the Dems are within striking distance of recapturing at least the Senate, and the GOP hasn't won a decisive victory in a presidential election since 1988. One good election, and the Democrats would be back in power, where they feel they rightfully belong. On the other hand, if the Republicans are en route to becoming America's undisputed majority party, it'll take a lot for Democrats accept their minority status--at the very least, a loss in the 2008 presidential election. As a consequence of this uncertainty about their future, today's Democrats are intellectually stagnant. They are the conservative party--not in the ideological sense, but in the sense of being opposed to change: Leave Social Security alone. Don't cut taxes (but don't raise them either). Roe v. Wade is sacrosanct, and anyone who questions it is unqualified for the federal bench. Affirmative action? Defend it, don't end it. And on foreign policy, the top liberal priority is the maintenance of Cold War-era institutions and alliances. Only on a few fringe issues (gay rights comes to mind) can liberals and Democrats be said to have any sort of agenda other than the preservation of the status quo. Damn skippy. posted by Shaun Kenney \| 6/20/2003 12:14:00 PM \| 0 comments 0 Comments: Post a Comment Home
	RedStormPAC $ About ShaunKenney.com is one of Virginia's oldest political blogs, focusing on the role of religion and politics in public life. Shaun Kenney, 30, lives in Fluvanna County, Virginia. Contact E-mail RSS/Atom Feed Links Bacon's Rebellion Deo Vindice First Things Google News Hiron's Blog Instapundit J's Notes Jaded JD Jefferson Mammoth Republitarian Save the GOP VCAP Virginia Centrist Virginia Club for Growth Virginia Progressive Virginia Virtucon Vivian J. Paige Waldo Jaquith The Jeffersoniad China Freedom Blog Alliance China e-Lobby Democratic China One Free Korea ShaunKenney.com Previous Posts Hussein Is Probably Alive in Iraq, U.S. Experts Sa... Kerry: "Bush Misled Every One of Us" So this is... Canada to Allow Same Sex Marriages Wow, I'm sur... Claude Dunn for Supervisor! In Spotsylvania thi... Diocese of Pheonix Bishop O'Brien Arrested Bish... What is it worth to avoid the commute? The FLS ... Invitation to crash GOP primary set editorial 'low... It's Time Time to make the trip to the 'undiscl... Journalist David Brinkley Dies at 82 David Brin... Sibling Rivalry! Jason and I are disagreeing ab... Search VA Blogs BlogNetNews.com	JEFFERSONIAD POLL: Whom do you support for Virginia Attorney General? 1) John Brownlee 2) Ken Cuccinelli View Results Recent Music Archives March 2002 April 2002 May 2002 June 2002 July 2002 August 2002 September 2002 October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 April 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008