Shuster the Snob: Election Returns Show 'The Public Can't' Focus on More Than One Issue

MSNBC’s David Shuster isn’t impressed with the intelligence of the American people – and even said so on a liberal talk-radio show. On the nationally syndicated Stephanie Miller show on Thursday morning, Shuster blamed the election returns on the "fact" that the ignorant public can’t focus on more than one issue at a time (click here for mp3 audio):

SHUSTER: You can make an argument, and I think there is a point to be made where in this environment, where the economy is having some trouble, and where a lot of people don’t have jobs that should, the extent people see Washington focused on things other than jobs, like health care or like immigration, or card check, whatever it is.

Even though I would argue, no, Washington can focus on a lot of things at once, but for whatever reason the public can’t. And so to the extent that the public sees Washington only consumed with these other issues, they’re not concerned about jobs, the public is a little anxious about that and that showed up in the polling. I don’t think that’s a direct impact on Obama at all.

The folks on the Miller show were absolutely convinced that the election results were solid proof that the country thinks neither party is liberal enough. From the comic actor Hal Sparks came this welcomed bit of analysis:

SPARKS: The truth is what’s the real agenda about? What are these votes really about? The truth is people get angry at the Republicans for what they are doing and they get mad at Democrats for what they’re not doing.

MILLER: Thank you! (Handel Hallelujah Chorus sound effect) Thank you!

SPARKS: Which points to the country moving in a very progressive way.

Miller and her sidekick thought the allegedly conservative national media were ignoring the liberal-pleasing results:

MILLER: Oh that damn liberal media strikes again. All that anybody is apparently talking about is the Republicans winning New Jersey and Virginia. They’re not talking about the fact that the Democrats won hugely unexpectedly in New York where the Republican Party imploded and out here in California, so the Democrats picked up two House seats.

CHRIS LAVOIE: Absolutely nobody in the mainstream media is talking about that. That’s highly irresponsible.

It would be incorrect that the Democrats "picked up two House seats." They did pick up New York 23, but California 10 (now represented by liberal John Garamendi) was represented by a Democrat, Ellen Tauscher.