The center-right confusion

Christopher Beam is just as curious as I am to find out what in the world does “center-right” mean when used to describe America. Who gets to decide whether America is left or right, and why can’t it be both?

In his article, Center-What?, Mr. Beam debates that the definition of center-right has no basis nor meaning, and America is therefore as undefined as ever.

 Read further to find out the meaning of center-right for yourself!

“Since the election, conservatives have consoled themselves with the idea that Obama may have won, but America is still a “center-right nation.” But the phrase is tossed around with little evidence—possibly because there is none. Even if there were evidence, the term is so muddled as to be meaningless.

“Defenders of the center-right maxim usually cite the statistic that more Americans identify themselves as conservative (38 percent, according to the most recent study by the Pew Research Center) than liberal (21 percent) or moderate (36 percent). But that’s just what people think they are. In practice, the labels aren’t clear-cut.

“Many self-identified conservatives support social safety nets, for example, while many liberals support coastal drilling. Meanwhile, not everyone agrees on the definitions of liberal and conservative, so self-identification means little. It’s not unlike middle-class. Since there’s no clear definition, almost everyone think they’re middle-class.”

“Center-righters also cite recent presidential history: Just look at the streak of Republican presidents in the last 30 years, they say. Five of the last seven presidents have been Republican. And until Obama’s victory, no Democrat had won more than 51 percent of the popular vote since Lyndon Johnson.

“What this ignores, though, is that while Republicans have dominated the executive branch, Democrats dominated the House and Senate for all but six of the 40 years before the GOP takeover in 1994. You can also re-spin the “recent presidents” numbers. If you start counting in 1960 and count Barack Obama, then five of the last 10 candidates elected president are Democrats. Ta-da!”

When people say “No, it doesn’t matter that America elected a Democrat for President, it’s still a center-right nation,” are they delusional?

Source: click here to read the full article from Slate

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