Came across an interesting AP article entitled, "GOP presidential contenders drift to the right":
"In the first presidential election since the tea party's emergence, Republican candidates are drifting rightward on a range of issues..."
Good! But wait, the AP's not finished with that sentence...
"...even though more centrist stands might play well in the 2012 general election."
Says who? The Associated Progressive? Or in this case, as Levin refers to them, "the Associated Depressed"? This liberal news outlet has become a well known source of Democratic sentiment, so it comes to no surprise that this entity would portray conservatism as 'extreme', and attempt to play on Republican fears, particularly those of the establishment, with quotes like this:
"But the eventual nominee will face President Barack Obama in the 2012 general election, when independent voters appear likely to be decisive players once again."
We're shaking in our boots, boys. Independent voters will play the same role as they always do: their decision is based on whoever's vision appeals to them the most. The establishment position that McCain was ready to advance didn't suit them in '08, so they went with Obama's illusion. And now he's shown EVERYONE, independents included, that his vision sold to Americans prior to his election is far from his actual statist conscience. Adding to the disenchantment of independents is his sorry economic policies that have ravaged the citizenry with higher fuel and food prices, as well as a declining housing market, not to mention his antagonistic foreign policy. All the eventual Republican nominee needs to show independents is decisiveness that benefits the People, but with conservative principles this time, instead of liberal ideology, or an establishment mindset for that matter.
Nonetheless, the AP, and the Pew Research Center, and a host of other old media outlets that I'm not even addressing here, continue to propagate the notion that conservatism, not liberalism, is the radical position with coercive language that's unequally applied to the Left, "Those independents may be far less enamored of hard-right positions than are the GOP activists who will wield power..." or "Many of them "take extremely conservative positions on nearly all issues," Pew reports." What's 'hard' or 'extreme'? The only thing extremely hard is the maintenance of Principle that exceeds far too many politicians' abilities...and the same can be said of the media!
As one progresses through this article, it becomes apparent who this discussion is addressed to: the crème de la crème of establishment hopefuls (Romney, Pawlenty, Huntsman, Gengrich) as they make perceived right turns on their previous positions and inconsistencies. Then of course, they can't go without dirisively dragging Paul Ryan's plan into the mix:
"The Republican Party's rightward drift is causing headaches for the presidential hopefuls on the issue of Medicare, a potential minefield in the general election. House Republicans passed a bill that eventually would convert Medicare to a less costly, less generous program. It would help older Americans buy health insurance, but it no longer would provide benefits based mainly on a patient's needs rather than costs."
Anyone catch that "to each according to his need" Marxist expectation of the welfare mentality in that last sentence? The AP considers the Ryan plan for Medicare less generous in overlooking a patient's needs rather than costs, but doesn't consider the current monopolized system that increases cost, which is hidden from a patient because someone else pays for it, and decreases quality through disincentivizing physicians to deliver the best care at the lowest price. The Ryan plan is a refreshing improvement on both the current system and Obama's plan of more bureaucratic obscurity, and this is a sentiment shared by a couple of Republicans that is buried in this article...
"If anything, "mainstream Republican leaders are pushing the party too far to the left," said Sid Dinerstein, GOP chairman in Palm Beach County, Fla. The House plan for Medicare is the only one that makes sense, he said, and GOP candidates "should become articulate and knowledgeable in talking about it." Louisiana's Republican chairman, Roger F. Villere Jr., agrees. "The conservative issues are the correct issues," he said. The presidential candidates should embrace the House stand, he said, and persuade voters they care more about saving Medicare than the Democrats do."
The AP takes it upon themselves to speak for independents' concerns when they are far from an assumed middle; and in doing so, they also advance the limitations that the mainstream media would impose on our choices as viable Republican candidates. No matter how they want to spin these establishment candidates right round, it just doesn't work on those atune to Principle. And what the AP won't tell you is that for all the reservations they think independents have towards conservatives, there's a reason why independents are not simply liberals.
