Worst Thing That Happened To Journalism - Washingon Post Edition

This morning we have another example in the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle of "political analysis" that's skewed Republican.  In the godawful Chris "Lizard" Cillizza's "The Monday Fix" political racing form, Amber "Waves of Grain" Phillips gives us the "Best Thing That Happened To Republicans" last week (no link):

Democrats listed pretty far to the left in their first presidential debate.  The five candidates onstage Tuesday debated the merits of socialism, and each tried to outdo each other on how tough they would be on the gun lobby and big banks... Skewing to one side in a primary is natural part (sic) of the political process, but Democrats are arguably further away from the center on issues such as gun control and welfare spending than at any time in recent memory."

Ignoring the whole issue of what make the "center" so sacred for now,  Ms. Phillips thinks the Democrats are "far to the left" on gun control?!  Apparently unbeknownst to Ms. Phillips, America has shifted under her feet (or she's just been reading GOP/ NRA press releases).  Here's what a poll conducted by GfK Knowledge Networks for researchers at Johns Hopkins University and published in the New England Journal of Medicine in March 2013 has to say:

Majorities of the respondents supported all but 4 of 31 gun policies (see Table 1).  Public support was particularly high for measures prohibiting certain persons from having guns, enhancing background checks, and instituting greater oversight of gun dealers. Even policies banning the sale of military-style semiautomatic weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines were supported by more than 65% of the general public.

Then there's this most recent poll.  That seems to be in line with the Democratic candidates positions on gun control, don't you think? 

When it comes to "welfare spending" it seems it all depends on how questions are asked, who thinks they're entitled to what (white middle class entitlements vs. programs targeted to the blacks poor), perhaps mixed with some confusion about what constitutes government "welfare" ("Get your government hands off my Medicare!"). But, a Pew poll from February 2013 on government spending on the poor shows that 71 percent of Americans want that spending to either stay the same or increase; only 24 percent (likely including Ms. Phillips) want it to decrease. We'd say that represents a consensus that places the Democratic candidates a whole lot closer to the majority opinion in this country than the drown- it- in- the- bathtub nihilist Republicans occupying their presidential clown car bus.

But what are some pesky facts when you're busy constructing a meme?