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I was also surprised, having spent the last month reading old posts, and the point is valid even if you have to figure that the folks who voted for Bartlett will likely vote for Kerry if only in desperation--this is very much an "anybody but Bush..." election. It is also part of the rhetoric of the right to suggest that anything that doesn't agree with their world-view is liberal left-wing bias without any acknowledgement of the amount of conservative right wing (increasingly media-driven) bias.

hmm, I think you're taking the observation too far here. While it is interesting (and surprising) that there are so many here who support Bush, I still think the opinions found throughout the life of the BBS show a definite leaning toward the left. I'm not saying this is bad, but the history of our discussion is replete with dominant left-wing opinions. I've never personally been offended by this, nor have I even asserted that it’s a problem. I know what I'm getting into whenever I post here, as does everyone else for the most part. It may be (as I think Jim was implying) that those with liberal tendencies are more vocal than the conservatives here, but the result is that our discussions have a decidedly left-wing focus.

I also think, however, that there is a simple reason for a left-wing leaning on a board founded for the sake of a cutting edge mp3 player. I just about any gathering of technologically savvy people, which this clearly is (though not all of us fit that mold, it is dominant), is going to have a tendency to move toward the left. Technology implies forward thinking, and the left is, by definition, about changing and moving forward (though we conservatives tend to believe this thinking isn’t really “forward” when it’s taken as far as the left does). But truth be told, as conservative as I am in this context, in “Real Life” I’m both more technically savvy and more liberal than most of my friends. I’d dare guess this is probably true for a lot of the conservatives on this board.

One thing I’d like to point out that has impressed me here is that while there does seem to be a "liberal bent", no one seems to feel the need to stuff themselves into a pigeonhole and remain there. Sometimes very surprising opinions come from people unexpectedly, and there are clear instances in which those on opposite “sides” have agreed (markedly different than the presidential candidates, who will NEVER agree on anything- I’m sure if one said the sky was blue the other would come up with some way of asserting how his view is different and superior). It's refreshing to know you're having a conversation with a thinking person rather than a machine that compiles the question, lines it up against a set of stone ideologies, and spits out an answer (Perhaps "Tony the bot" notwithstanding - just kidding, of course. Tony is as flexible as the rest!).

As far as right/left wing media bias, I'm afraid that the media panders to whatever is popular at the moment. So whenever the media panders to "the other side", the bias decried by the side it is “against”. A good example I see is NBC on Wednesday nights. You see the West Wing and think that NBC has a liberal bias. Then you get Law and Order, which thought it has had many characters with different bias through its long run, it now has a VERY strong conservative personality in the character of the head DA. NBC doesn't care about left or right wing; they just want us all to watch their dramas.

Incidentally, have you heard that the West Wing is considering a GOP president to fill Bartlett's shoes? I don't know if it’d be out of an attempt to be artistically credible or simply a product of more pandering, but I wonder how its viewership will respond if that happens?