Are We a Center-Right Nation?

Are We a Center-Right Nation?

Chris Hayes argues that voters’ anti-incumbent attitude is more about anger and frustration with the current economy than political ideology.

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

On Morning Joe, Nation editor Chris Hayes disagrees with Joe Scarborough’s use of the term
“Center-right nation” to describe the currrent political landscape. The term, he argues, is a creation of Washington pundits as part of a “script that everybody already has which is that liberals
overreach…they try to go too far, and then they’re punished because
they’ve strayed from the center-right nation and they have to do things
like propose spending freezes.” The anti-incumbent attitude has more to
do with the economy and anger at the banks then the center-right
attitude of Americans.

The problem with the over-used script, Hayes says, is “that there are
very good sensible, practical liberal solutions to these problem which
are taken off the table precisely because they’re seen as symbols of
overreach.”

Morgan Ashenfelter

Check out more great Nation videos on our YouTube channel.

Disobey authoritarians, support The Nation

Over the past year you’ve read Nation writers like Elie Mystal, Kaveh Akbar, John Nichols, Joan Walsh, Bryce Covert, Dave Zirin, Jeet Heer, Michael T. Klare, Katha Pollitt, Amy Littlefield, Gregg Gonsalves, and Sasha Abramsky take on the Trump family’s corruption, set the record straight about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s catastrophic Make America Healthy Again movement, survey the fallout and human cost of the DOGE wrecking ball, anticipate the Supreme Court’s dangerous antidemocratic rulings, and amplify successful tactics of resistance on the streets and in Congress.

We publish these stories because when members of our communities are being abducted, household debt is climbing, and AI data centers are causing water and electricity shortages, we have a duty as journalists to do all we can to inform the public.

In 2026, our aim is to do more than ever before—but we need your support to make that happen. 

Through December 31, a generous donor will match all donations up to $75,000. That means that your contribution will be doubled, dollar for dollar. If we hit the full match, we’ll be starting 2026 with $150,000 to invest in the stories that impact real people’s lives—the kinds of stories that billionaire-owned, corporate-backed outlets aren’t covering. 

With your support, our team will publish major stories that the president and his allies won’t want you to read. We’ll cover the emerging military-tech industrial complex and matters of war, peace, and surveillance, as well as the affordability crisis, hunger, housing, healthcare, the environment, attacks on reproductive rights, and much more. At the same time, we’ll imagine alternatives to Trumpian rule and uplift efforts to create a better world, here and now. 

While your gift has twice the impact, I’m asking you to support The Nation with a donation today. You’ll empower the journalists, editors, and fact-checkers best equipped to hold this authoritarian administration to account. 

I hope you won’t miss this moment—donate to The Nation today.

Onward,

Katrina vanden Heuvel 

Editor and publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x