A good in-depth discussion of media bias in political reporting, or why is it that Biden voters are encouraged to understand an empathize with Trump voters but Trump voters are never asked to understand Biden voters?
You must log in or register to comment.
As a liberal, I don’t need to idolize my president. I don’t want to have a beer with them. I don’t buy Democratic President merch.
I do want them to be competent. I do want them to respect the rule of law. I do want them to be truthful though I understand politics means they sometimes aren’t. I want them to govern for the good of all, even conservatives that didn’t vote for them. I want them to respect history and science, rather than spouting bullshit conspiracy theories with zero basis in fact.
By those criteria, Biden has been as good a president as I could hope for.
Trumpers just seem to care that Trump hates the people they hate. They seem to love the bullshit he spouts; the endless lies, the conspiracy theory nonsense, all of it.
I think I understand Trumpers well enough, without reaching out and trying to understand their point of view. If they could coherently form complete sentences that didn’t involve regurgitating Trump lies or rightwing media conspiracy nonsense, I might try — but they can’t and don’t, so it’s a waste of time. Two groups who can’t agree on the difference between up and down might as well be speaking different languages, so, just no.
It’s more basic than he hates the right people. Trumpets love trump because he’s a bully. He makes people upset.
That’s just how authoritarians work. The reason the other Republicans are failing at the primary is they all appear weak. To ACTUALLY take down Trump, a Republican candidate needs to out bully him. They need to call him an orange asswipe.
But they won’t because that will upset trumpets. And that’s why they are doomed to lose the primary. Trump can call their wives ugly and they’ll just take it for fear of upsetting his mob.
If you love a politician, you are in a cult. I voted for Joe Biden but I think he’s basically a Republican, and wish the democratic party would field a candidate who is better. But this is politics. You don’t trow up your hands like a baby and demand better, you work with what you have.
That and the narrative of “lesser of two evils” creates a race to the bottom. We have Biden because there’s no real incentive to get good candidates, when all we have to do is find one mildly less shitty than the alternative.
Sanders tried that but until we dissolve the DNC (and for that matter the RNC), technically those picks will always occur by a pair of privately managed entities.
Privately managed entities? They’re organizations literally made up of elected officials. In some states, voters directly elect their states members, as in anyone can run to be a member, and in others the members are chosen by other elected officials. Either way, there isn’t anything private about it.
Might want to read this. This is what I was getting at that there’s no public accountability in a supposedly public process.
Updooting for “the Liberal attitude toward democracy oliticians”, but I really would have liked to have a beer with Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. In addition to being good national leaders, they appeared to be good people to know socially
… I want them to govern for the good of all, even conservatives that didn’t vote for them. I want them to respect history and science, rather than spouting bullshit conspiracy theories with zero basis in fact.
By those criteria, Biden has been as good a president as I could hope for.
here’s an article going over biden spouting bullshit conspiracy theories with zero basis in fact and providing shitty governance for lgbtq people by singling them out for political gain: https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-1973-gay-federal-employees-security-risk-frank-camp.
there are many more examples from in his 2020 campaign that prove biden’s a shitty establishment politician that still stands by his bullshit racist, homophobic, and classicist conspiracy beliefs to this day.
trumpers are no different than you; they’re simply operating w a different style of ignorance.
An article about someone’s opinions from 50 years ago is not a valid criticism when those opinions have adapted with time. This is just like arguing that Republicans don’t have racist policies since Lincoln abolished slavery. Could Biden do more to be more progressive yes but this is not a good argument for that stance.
he still stands by this decision and defended it during his 2020 campaign.
Then link that article. Sodomy laws are in the books in most states into the early 2000s, being an LGBTQ ally in the 70s was rare. Growth and allyship now are much more important than being bigoted 50 years ago. Personal growth and improvement is a cornerstone of progressive ideology. I will always have patience for people who are trying to improve and understand and that means that some people are going to be starting the journey at a dark place.
these engagements always go the same way, so here’s a copy/paste from somewhere else:
since you’re clearly digging in your heels; i’m going to try to undercut your next arguments since they are always the same three from the deeply ignorant liberal crowd:
- biden recently defended his decisions on all three [DOMA; don’t ask, don’t tell; undischargable student loan debt] plus multiple more shitty decisions; so it doesn’t matter how long ago he said it or made those laws.
- biden refused to change his mind all the way up until his presidential campaign and has a solid history of changing his mind but only once it becomes politically convenient for him; so he didn’t “evolve” or get better, he just knows that trump is weaker on this topic and uses your ignorance about his past of truly horrific anti-lgbtq/black/poor history to get your vote.
Additionally: no, dunking on gays for easy politically points in the past wasn’t popular, many politicians (eg bernie sanders) never did it.
- his beliefs are the reason why he’s not bothering to improve anything, especially on the student loan debt. also: yes there are many things he can do even though congress is trying to block him; but he won’t do it no matter what. (google these too)
solid history of changing his mind but only once it becomes politically convenient for him
I love this argument. You mean to tell me he only changed his mind when coincidentally so did a majority of other Americans?!?! What a fucking scandal. Have you gone to the papers?
phillaholic 6•
solid history of changing his mind but only once it becomes politically convenient for himI love this argument. You mean to tell me he only changed his mind when coincidentally so did a majority of other Americans?!?! What a fucking scandal. Have you gone to the papers?
by that same logic trump is just as good because he too changed his mind when he ran for president.
Yes, even Bernie Sanders has evolved to be more accepting of lgbt rights over time:
Sometimes politics is ugly, sometimes you need to compromise, sometimes you need to act in the direction of the majority. Sometimes you’re even influenced by the trends of society
Here is an article by a billionaire funded website that offered $50 million to Stephen Crowder explaining that Biden is bad.
[checks notes]
Seems legit. I mean, how could it not be?
here’s another one that shows that your thought process is heavily flawed: https://thegavoice.com/news/national/sanders-urges-voters-to-look-at-bidens-votes-for-dont-ask-doma/
Which argument? I think Joe Biden is a Republican, but he isn’t a fascist. Biden is responsible for Clarence Thomas, the Crime Bill, and most of the wars in the middle east. He was anti-gay marriage, and probably still is being an old grandpa who palled around with white nationalists.
He promised to not drill on public lands, and then opened up public lands for drilling! But he did invest the most ever in climate crisis. So I guess he doesn’t suck?)
He sucks. But he isn’t trying to destroy America from within. So there’s my vote. A guy who legit sucks or a fascist who has promised to use the DOJ to hunt down his enemies. Who has promised to take over elections and find votes. Who lies like he breaths because lying is the tactic of a bully.
It is the difference between getting shot in the face or getting punched in the face. I don’t want either, but if you make me pick, I’ll bloody well take getting punched.
Here’s another one that shows that your thought process is heavily flawed:
“Joe Biden is a friend of mine”. – Bernie Sanders
Biden rules dude. Take your Trump trash paid for by billionaire elites to trick you into giving them gigantic tax cuts and GTFO
“Joe Biden is a friend of mine”. – Bernie Sanders
Trump voters are never asked to understand Biden voters?
They can’t. They can’t understand anything outside of their tiny sphere. Everything else angers and terrifies them. Otherwise they wouldn’t be conservatives.
So there’s no point in asking them. It’s like asking a turtle to fly.
They can’t. They can’t understand anything outside of their tiny sphere. Everything else angers and terrifies them. Otherwise they wouldn’t be conservatives. So there’s no point in asking them. It’s like asking a turtle to fly.
being an elder millennial has afforded me to opportunity to experience biden’s trump like behaviors that he signed into law and watching w fascination that his current supporters are just as willfully ignorant as trump supporters.
the real mind boggling thing is that all of biden and trump’s homophobic, racists, and classicist sins are both alike and easy to find with a 30 second google search; but both groups continue to ascribe values to their politician despite it being very easy to disprove and each person will dig in their heels when you point it out to them.
conservative trump supporters are no different than liberal biden supporters in that neither group is aware of what biden has done (or what trump wants to do) and both groups are fervently willfully ignorant about it so long as their politician wins.
New account made 3 hours ago? Check.
Comments almost exclusively on political threads? Check.
When doing so, almost exclusively makes “both sides are the same” comments? Check.How’s the trolling going, friend?
New account made 3 hours ago? Check. Comments almost exclusively on political threads? Check. When doing so, almost exclusively makes “both sides are the same” comments? Check.
How’s the trolling going, friend?
i used to believe reddit was the king dumbass echo chambers; now i know that the fediverse makes reddit same sane and reasonable by comparison.
A good in-depth discussion of media bias in political reporting, or why is it that Biden voters are encouraged to understand an empathize with Trump voters but Trump voters are never asked to understand Biden voters?
Same reason why during BLM, lots of media showcasing the looting or police brutality. But 90% of protests were just people standing there politely and cops standing on the other side.
Media wants blood for ratings.
It’s not hard to understand Trump voters. They love the way Trump is portrayed on Fox “News,” and they love licking boots. Getting them to understand that a convicted rapist, six-time bankrupted, twice-divorced irreligious grifter makes a bad president can be quite challenging.
Hell, you could still be a good president and be all those things. “Irreligious” is a point in favor for me, compared to having Preacher Pence in office.
The self-enrichment, abuse of power, and attempt to overthrow the government are the problem.
Preacher Pence
Pence is a known Christian nationalist. People aren’t as afraid of him as they should be, just because he seems quiet.
Dominionist, more specifically, and very supportive of the Quiverfull movement, which we should all be concerned about.
These people want the Duggars as the example of the perfect American family, pedophiles and all.
Why should I put who the president is as a person above any relevant political aspects?
Bad people can’t be trusted to follow through on their promised political aspects more than they cause other issues
Are there Biden voters or just Anti-Trump voters? The Biden Administration has been dealing with inflation that just now is leveling out. While his policies match what the majority of voters want, the voters don’t want him. The downside is there is no one better to choose. Essentially it is meh Biden is better than anything the GOP has to offer.
I obviously don’t speak for everybody but my Biden vote in 2020 was very much a not-Trump vote. And if Trump end up against Biden in 2024 I will make that same vote a second time. Like you said, I’ll take a meh Biden over the crazies in the GQP.
I’d vote for Biden over anyone the GOP is running.
I’d vote for Biden over anyone the GOP is running.
I’ll die of old age before I vote R for any position at any level. They can’t possibly reform themselves enough to be trusted in my lifetime.
If I see an R candidate running who doesn’t seem like a whackjob I’m going to assume it’s a trojan horse. They spent the past several years trying to convince me that they are a bunch of crazy bigots who will destroy civil liberties, destroy our educational system, and ban any history or books that they deem as undesirable. I have chosen to believe them.
Gotta watch out for the trojan horses running on the Democrat side as well. RFK Jr. being the perfect example.
Agree, but he’s blatantly obvious.
If RFK is a trojan horse he’s made of glass. But yes always be wary of these things
Sinema is a better example.
The Democrats went from racist southerners in 1960s to the modern progressives who literally drafted Civil Rights laws by the end of that decade.
The only thing that’s certain in politics is change. Its surprising how quickly viewpoints can change, even for large, established parties.
The Democrats went from racist southerners in 1960s to the modern progressives who literally drafted Civil Rights laws by the end of that decade.
I’ve chosen this link about the Southern Strategy because it will both debunk the overly simplistic view of it that is normally put forth, and also will debunk the usual attempts by conservatives to say it didn’t happen.
I’ve cherrypicked this bit from its closing paragraph because I think it gets at the meat of this argument, but I also acknowledge here that the overall point of the article is that we can’t ahem blame the current state of the Republican party entirely on the Southern Strategy and racism.
While the claim that the appeal of the parties on the basis of racial issues switched following the passage of the Civil Rights Act is true enough, there is a greater truth that conservatives who resist this claim often make which deserves to be acknowledged: the South changed its racial attitudes over time. It has changed, just as America has changed. Whether its overarching racial culture has changed nearly enough to meet the higher aspirations of our ideals of racial equality today is a separate question. But the South that the Republican Party represents today is not the South of George Wallace and the neo-segregationists.
Edited to add: And also, if Republicans stop being the party of hurting people I’ll stop treating them like the party of hurting people. I stand by my original statement though. It’s so exceptionally unlikely as to be within the realm of fiction that they will do such a thing during my natural lifespan.
The article addresses that. Because the media doesn’t report on Biden supporters, the public gets the impression that no one likes him much. I also think approval ratings are not contextualized well, because you rarely see how many people who disapprove of Biden’s presidency are right-wing and how many are leftists.
From a personal perspective, while I was not a reluctant Biden voter (would have never voted for Trump), he was far from the top of my list in the 2020 primary. I think, considering the obstacles he’s faced, Joe has been a much better president that I expected. That’s in spite of Republicans ratfucking student loan relief and robust electoral reform.
He’s been actually one of the best we’ve had. They’re never going to be perfect since you can’t be an angel and get to be president, you gotta make some deals with the devils.
Not an American, but I think Biden has been the best US president since at least Clinton, and perhaps even since Carter.
(Although I do agree he is too old… Does the democratic party really not have a younger equally capable candidate?)
Obama was a very popular and charismatic guy, but I think he kind of squandered his popularity and failed to achieve results.
Obama wasn’t successful with the ACA, or Iraq/Afghanistan or the Supreme Court. He didn’t even achieve a minimum wage increase after 2009. Didn’t tackle wallstreet.
He should have been a bit more confrontational and twisted some arms to achieve results.
Meanwhile Biden is just steamrolling a lot of successes with a razer thin Senate majority.
We’re on the same page I think, he’s done some amazing things and no one talks about it. Clinton wasn’t a great person but he was a good president. Carter was a great person but had some issues with being too nice for politics imo. He couldn’t make any deals with the devils but he can definitely sleep at night. We have so many corrupt people in our upper government that I don’t wish that job on anyone.
I hope this guy runs someday: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Swalwell
Swalwell certainly seems like a dude whose head is attached to his ass, a rare trait in DC.
The episode where McCarthy said “Call me a coward again and I’ll kick your ass,” to which Swalwell replied “You. Are. A. Coward,” is also pretty endearing, despite his repetition of a gendered insult. (The word wasn’t coward)
He was great during the hearings and trials as well, he seems like a real dude.
I’ll take a level-headed non-showy president who does what he can to enact his promises over a charismatic mouthpiece any day of the week.
I also think approval ratings are not contextualized well, because you rarely see how many people who disapprove of Biden’s presidency are right-wing and how many are leftists.
I’m the latter
My vote for Biden was an anything but trump vote, but given Biden’s current record as president he has my vote again.
Still not my first choice but we live in a first past the post voting system so gotta take what you can get.
I was an anti trump voter in the last go around, but this time I’m voting FOR Biden. He’s done a lot with a bare minimum Senate majority and a hostile supreme court. And I love his unconditional support of Ukraine.
Biden’s team has handled the war in Ukraine extremely well, building up our European strategic alliances to a level we haven’t seen in decades while avoiding disastrous escalation. A terrible situation but I think he’s handled it better than, say, a first-term Obama or Clinton (let alone GWB) would have.
IRA & debt ceiling pwnage show he has skilled people working congress too.
On the minus side, he appointed Merrick Garland, who has been absolutely the wrong man for the job.
the voters don’t want him.
Biden was literally chosen by the voters.
Are there Biden voters or just Anti-Trump voters?
Biden rules. Absolutely nobody could have done a better job than Biden on a whole range of issues: Ukraine, jobs, reducing inflation without triggering a recession, covid, student loans, getting liberal policies thru a razor thin Dem majority etc. He has done an outstanding job on all of those things.
There is no one better to choose because the media and the DNC keep telling us there is no one better to choose and any time a possible person is mentioned everybody just says “They don’t have Biden’s name recognition so they can’t win.”.
Who isn’t being talked about that is registered and better?
Serious liberal candidates aren’t going to run against a sitting President.
Duverger’s Law and US is still not there yet in the Overton window. I vote progressive to help aid in Overton window shift from something more reasonable and social democracy is arguably the system that makes the most sense.
I vote progressive to help aid in Overton window shift
A wise strategy since voting is the only way to shift the Overton window.
Who? The two main other candidates are insane pseudoscience and conspiracy theorist trash. And also basically right wingers anyways.
You must be new to the internet.
There’s nothing people like more than rehashing the 2016 and 2020 elections
Brainwashed Trumpers are in such bad shape they’d literally need professional cult deprogrammers… is that still a thing? They are utterly impossible to reason with.
Professional cult deprigranners was never a real career. They tended to be church councilers.
A very good article and the author answers their own question. Because they’re the “big tent party,” democrats support a spectrum of views and compromises, albeit largely unified on some issues (the author notes a few widely accepted positions across the party, like abortion)
Whereas Trump voters are in lockstep in their hatred and fear mongering (let’s not pretend trump had or has any policy positions). You’ll find those same views at the Iowa primaries or at that diner in Ohio. It’s simply easier to summarize this relatively simplistic and basically apolitical view, so journalists took the easy out. Short, punchy articles with increasingly excessive “hot takes” got them clicks and now here we are
I voted for Biden as the least worst of the only two bad options, as I have in every general election I have participated in in both Congressional and Presidential races.
I’ve only had the opportunity to vote for politicians I actually have confidence in the ability to govern in primaries, and I could first vote in 2004.
I’m almost certain I will die without ever having the opportunity to vote for anything less than a proud crony capitalism sycophant in a general election.
We’re fucked with Neoliberals or fascists. It just feels more compassionate for me to vote for our shithole to decline a little slower under the Neoliberals.
I believed in Obama when I voted for him. I was sorely disappointed when he continued The Patriot Act, among other things. He was still world’s better than his predecessor though.
He was President during Occupy and helped throw wet towels.
I voted for Biden as the least worst of the only two bad options, as I have in every general election I have participated in in both Congressional and Presidential races.
and that’s all you’re ever going to get w this system; let it fail.
No, I’m going to get progress over regression. I’m not going to blow up the lives of myself and the next generation because it’s not perfect. What a shit take.
Fascism doesn’t emphasize
I mean no shit. Biden is possibly one of the most generic establishment presidents possible. It’s not exactly a mystery why people voted for him.
Meh, he’s actually surpassed my expectations. He’s by no means perfect, but in some areas he’s been shockingly progressive.
Mind you, I’d much rather a super progressive take the throne, but I’ll take a Biden instead.
My argument to progressives who were reluctant to vote for Biden was that he would sign progressive legislation if congress could pass it. I think that’s been borne out.
Meh, he’s actually surpassed my expectations. He’s by no means perfect, but in some areas he’s been shockingly progressive.
My expectations were negligible, and yes, they’ve been surpassed. I have to say, I really thought we were gonna get refried Clintonian politics and what we’ve got represent an improvement. I wish it would have been Bernie, but if this gets the job done, fine by me.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
CONSERVATIVE AND MAINSTREAM MEDIA don’t agree on much, but one point of consensus is that everyone should work harder to understand Trump supporters.
A common style of this coverage is the safari to “Trump Country,” in which journalists from various outlets, most of whom live in big metropolitan areas, go to a rural community or Rust Belt town and talk to Trump voters, often white, working-class men in diners.
A great example is a May 2019 New York Times story titled “There’s No Boom in Youngstown, but Blue-Collar Workers Are Sticking With Trump.” It’s such a well-trod trope that it’s inspired parodies and running jokes.
Going beyond those attempts to understand Trump voters are two recent arguments that got attention on social media.
First, in his New York Times column early this month, David Brooks argued that “elites” have been “behaving in ways that make Trumpism inevitable.” In particular, Brooks writes, “it’s easy to understand why people in less-educated classes would conclude that they are under economic, political, cultural and moral assault—and why they’ve rallied around Trump as their best warrior against the educated class.” Brooks encouraged his readers to imagine what the last half-century of American history looks like from the vantage of those non-elites.
“He’s clearly quite racist,” Yglesias conceded, “but I also think he’s written some good pieces and it’s important to read conservatives.”
I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Wait, I know this one –
It’s because “Trump voters” have shown themselves to be lunatic conspiracy theorists prone to violence, and “Biden voters” have not.
Doesn’t get them? Or just doesn’t like them?
Biden voters just want a sane person in office. Chaos sells, and most media is profit-driven.
