In a longish look at the state of the U.S. Senate race in North Carolina, the left-wing Politico opens its analysis-disguised-as-reporting by describing my state as “a conservative hotbed” because our Republican-led state government “banned gay marriage, tightened restrictions on abortion clinics, and enacted a sweeping voter ID law.” Pretending mainstream views are controversial, and their own left-wing views (such as gun control) are mainstream, is a propaganda trick the media frequently engage in.
As Politico itself has reported, voter ID is a 70/30 issue, with 70% in favor of laws that require identification when voting. This includes a majority of, yes, Democrats. Only 26% of voters oppose these common sense laws. Other polls show numbers as high as 83% approving of voter ID laws, including 72% of Democrats.
As far as the laws Politico describes as “tightened restrictions on abortion clinics,” what those new laws really do here in North Carolina is require abortion clinics to meet the same common sense safety standards as any outpatient surgical center and prohibit abortions based on gender-selection. The law is also, dare I say, pro-choice, in that it allows health care providers to opt out of performing abortion procedures.
While I can’t find any polling on those specific laws, there is no question that attitudes towards abortion have moved slowly but dramatically towards a pro-life position. A recent Gallup poll shows that a plurality of 48% of Americans consider themselves pro-life, with 45% stating they are pro-choice.
Gallup also shows that only 26% want abortion unrestricted, or “legal under any circumstance.”
In one poll, bans on abortions after 20 weeks are supported by a plurality of 44% of Americans, with only 37% opposing. Other polls show even higher numbers support the 20-week ban, including 60% of women. Using Politico’s generic term about “tightened restrictions,” one poll that generically asked about “limitations” on abortions found 83% approval.
As far as a ban on gay marriage somehow equating to a hotbed of conservative activism, only 16 states have legalized same-sex marriage. Thirty-three states have a ban in place, including those hotbed conservative states Obama won, such as Michigan, Colorado, Wisconsin, Virginia, and Florida.
Politico also fails to point out that the 2012 North Carolina referendum to constitutionally enshrine marriage as a union between one man and one woman passed by an overwhelming 61-39%. In a state Obama won in 2008 and only barely lost in 2012, you can bet that it wasn’t just conservatives voting in favor of protecting the traditional definition of marriage.
These facts, however, make no difference to a media much more concerned with pushing a left-wing agenda than doing actual reporting that reflects reality.
Because left-wing outlets like Politico favor gay marriage and oppose voter ID laws and laws that increase health regulations on abortion clinics, regardless of reality, the media’s goal is to paint anything they disagree with as extreme, all in the hopes of making it so.
This of course starts with convincing stray Democrats they are on the wrong side of the issue.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
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