For Establishment Press, the Lesson of Mamdani’s Victory Is to Take No Lessons
Corporate media pundits desperately wanted Mamdani’s victory to have no impact on the ideological direction of the Democratic Party.
As Millions March Against Fascism, NYT Warns Against Progressives
Two days after massive pro-democracy marches, the New York Times published a forceful message of its own—not against fascism, but against progressivism.
NYT’s Predictable Advice for Kamala Harris: Go Right
As the Democratic Party began to coalesce behind Kamala Harris, the New York Times quickly put forward the knee-jerk corporate media prescription for Democratic candidates: Move to the right.
Media’s Election Lesson: ‘Ambitious’ Dems Must Move to the Right
Corporate media echoed the same overarching moral they repeat year after year, seemingly regardless of outcome: Move to the right.
Press Sees NYC Primary Win as Yet Another Reason for Dems to Move Right
The press sees Eric Adams’ primary win as yet another indication that the Democratic Party must stick to moderate ideas.
NYT Recycles Polling to Tell Dems Once More: Move to the Right
Election Focus 2020: Support for progressive candidates in battleground states should give any journalist pause before drawing the conclusion that those voters are “counseling” pursuit of the so-called middle ground.
At NYT, Fantasy of Bill Clinton’s Centrism Saving the Dems Never Gets Old
The New York Times has a fairy tale it wants to tell you—about the magical land of Centrism and how it needs to be saved from the sinister Lefties….
NYT’s False Choice for Democrats: Move to the Right or Divide by Race
The New York Times offers Democrats a strategy that goes after rural, whiter, more conservative voters—presumably by being more conservative—vs. a strategy of counting on demographics to deliver victory to a party focused on social and environmental issues.
NYT Scrapes the Bottom to Argue ‘Democrats Pulled Too Far Left’
“Have Democrats Pulled Too Far Left?” asks a New York Times op-ed. This question is always answered affirmatively by corporate media, but the column still manages to surprise with its degree of intellectual dishonesty.
After Labour Loses With Austerity, US Media Tell Them to Move to the Right
When conservatives win elections, the US press invariably reports that the lesson for liberals is to move to the right. That’s true not only in domestic elections but overseas ones as well–as with last week’s balloting for the British Parliament.
Centrist Anxiety at the New York Times
Edsall finds it alarming that people are objecting to the platforms of political parties, and using identification with a party’s agenda as a gauge of character.
NY Times Covers for Obama’s Move to the Right
President Barack Obama has decided to talk less about income inequality and more about “opportunity.” This shift to a more conservative framework to discuss economic divisions is, according to the New York Times, what the public wants. But that doesn’t appear to be the case. Reporter Jackie Calmes (2/4/14) explained that Republicans think talking about […]
New York Times: What’s in the ‘Center’?
“Some Democrats Look to Push Party Away From Center,” read the headline at the New York Times. But the “center” doesn’t actually mean what one might think it means–especially in the context of the political views of the American public.
Obama, Bill Clinton and the Need to Move Rightward
In corporate media, some political arguments are treated as indisputable fact. One of the most important: Democrats win by moving to the right. In the New York Times (5/3/12), Peter Baker offers the latest example: Mr. Obama, who campaigned on Sunday with Mr. Clinton, seems to be following his Democratic predecessor’s playbook. After a generation […]
11 Out of 12 Pundits Agree: Obama Must Move to the Right
On his weekend NBC show, Chris Matthews regularly posts a question to 12 regular pundit/journalists–what he calls “The Matthews Meter.” This Sunday (3/14/10), the question was: “Should Obama Move to the Center Instead of the Left as a Reelection Strategy?” Matthews explained it on the show: Let’s go to the bottom line. We took it […]
Obama Moves Right? Pundits Cheer
Pundits frequently gave Obama a pass for ostensibly shifting his positions because they preferred what seemed to be his new, less progressive position.
Move Over—Over and Over
It’s an article of faith in the elite ranks of journalism: Political virtue and electoral success reside in the ideological center. Though it’s not overwhelmingly popular with the American public, centrism is the dominant message of national political pundits and journalists—at least for Democrats. While few commentators would disagree with the conventional wisdom that Republican […]
Move to the Right!
With John Kerry having emerged as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, prominent TV and print pundits are peddling the same campaign advice they give Democratic candidates every four years: Move to the right, abandon progressive stances and occupy the political center. At Newsweek, political reporter Howard Fineman (4/12/04) counseled Kerry to craft “a coherent, centrist […]
Pundits to Kerry: Move Right
Every four years, loud voices in the media advise the Democratic presidential candidate to abandon progressive stances and occupy the political center. With Sen. John Kerry having emerged as the presumable nominee, the pundits are once again issuing the same prescription. Time magazine’s Joe Klein wrote (4/12/04) that Kerry needs to be bold: “The ideal […]
