Bursting my 'liberal media bubble'

The Dean-o-phobe recently noted that many Dean supporters seem to exist in a bubble:

THE DEAN BUBBLE: One of the most disturbing things about Dean and his hard-core supporters is that they give the impression that they know nothing at all of why President Bush is successful, and therefore what it takes to beat him. Read the pro-Dean blogs, and the you come away with the view that Bush is strong because he's ruthless and has lots of money, and therefore if the Democrats are also ruthless and raise lots of money, they can beat him. This ignorance is compounded by the fact that many Deanies seem to exist in a isolated cultural milieu in which everybody is secular, socially liberal, and antiwar. They can't fathom why those things might hurt Dean in a general election because they don't ever talk to or read anybody who thinks differently. Dean's Internet networking--which has had lots of positive effects on American politics--has probably intensified this cloistering, by creating intellectual ghettos on the web where true believers can interact, undisturbed by those who don't share their faith.

This criticism of Dean people strangely echoes right-wing pundits who complain about a 'liberal media bubble' (See, for example, this charming article from NewsMax on the topic) as the obnoxious conservative bloggerPolipundit points out.

This got me thinking. Maybe I do live in a liberal media bubble, of sorts. Much of my raw news I get from the AP, just like everyone else (only that's the problem, isn't it? Everyone else doesn't get their news from the AP...). But most of the commentary and editorial stuff I read is, if not liberal, can certainly not be called conservative, as many conversatives today seem to understand the word.

I dispute the common conservative accusation that, for example, the New York Times is a radically left-wing publication, (You want radically left-wing, check out The Socialist Worker. And no, despite having referred to myself as a "Clark Socialist" in some previous post I'm too lazy to link to at the moment, I am not a regular reader of that particular rag.) However, I can refuse to buy into the 'liberal media bias' notion and still recognize that my own inclinations have not led me to spend a lot of time carefully studying the policy papers of the Heritage Foundation, et. al., and trying to understand conservatism as a movement.

As a result, it's true that I am often baffled by conservative viewpoints on things. I grew up in Titusville, Florida, a place that is definitely not your Jewish Grandparents' Sunshine State, so I'm not quite as baffled, as, say, someone who grew up on Park Avenue and then moved to Vermont might be. [Or, for that matter, as baffled as someone who grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, and now lives in Brookline. -- Max] I mean, I spent my childhood trying to explain to my Southern Baptist friends that I really didn't need converting, thanks anyway. (And this is starting to sound like a "I have plenty of xxx-type friends" defensiveness thing, so I'll shut up about my outsider childhood in rural Florida now.) Still, I don't go back to my hometown much anymore, and now I live in a place where my U.S. Congressional Rep is Barney Frank (and a biiiig shoutout to you Mr. Frank!), so it's fair to say I live now in a bit of a bubble.

Therefore, I've decided to expand my horizons a bit. Now, I'll tell you right now I'm not interested in Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter and their ilk. I'd like to understand reasonable, thoughtful conservatives. Because frankly lately I've been feeling that the current administration isn't really making them happy either, so maybe if I offered a good-faith attempt to understand what it is they want out of government, really, then I can convince them that Bush is not the way to get it.

Anyway, this begins my researches into the world of conservative political and policy thinking. At my local used bookstore I picked up a copy of The Concise Conservative Encyclopedia as a starting point. Amazon seems to also suggest I read The Conservative Mind, so I guess I'll see if I can order a copy from the library. Suggestions from conservative readers about well-thought-out conservative publications (not blogs at this point, the blogverse is way too big, I want to start with stuff that has to go through editors first...) are welcome.

In between agitating for Clark (whose candidacy, I remain convinced, can bridge the gap between thinking conservatives and liberals in the country) and against Dean, I will keep everyone updated on my research into the conservative mind.