Here’s another question: Who gets to define what Americans really value? There is actual research on what Americans value, but we’ll get to that in a moment.
First, we need to talk about one of the people who wants to tell you what you think, what you should think, and what your fellow Americans think. Fox News “personality” Bill O’Reilly went on another rant Monday night about what a great country America used to be.
He sang the praises of 1962 back in July, going on and on about how poverty was lower, tax rates were lower, everybody worked hard and, “nobody complained. We had fun. We appreciated what we did have.”
O’Reilly makes it clear he longs for 1962. By the way, that was three years before the Voting Rights Act was passed, outlawing discriminatory voting practices that targeted African-Americans. President John F. Kennedy had just launched a food stamp pilot program. We didn’t have many people on welfare because “welfare,” as it exists today in the form of Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, TANF and Head Start, did not exist in Bill O’Reilly’s 1962. O’Reilly was hoping this ode to 1962 would convince people to vote for Mitt Romney.
This week, O’Reilly again harkened back to the “good old days,” only this time he took it a step further. He said we don’t live in “traditional America” post-election. O’Reilly blames “secular progressives,” he calls the S.P.’s for short. O’Reilly thinks Americans don’t go to church regularly anymore. (He did not bother to mention synagogue or mosque or meeting, by the way). He claims “creeping secularism” is hurting the religious vote.
But O’Reilly’s criticism misses the mark on why Mitt Romney lost the election, specifically among Catholics. The 2012 American Values Survey is a non-partisan survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute. The researchers surveyed 3,003 people about their religious views in September of this year. As we reported last month, the survey found more Catholics believe the Church should focus on helping the poor, even if it means focusing less on “right to life” issues.
O’Reilly, Romney and many Republicans focused on abortion during the campaign, but slipped up on poverty. In February, Romney told CNN, “I’m not concerned about the very poor. There’s a safety net there, and if it needs repair I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich, they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the heart of America, the 95 percent of Americans who are right now struggling.”









