Schieffer repeated GOP claim that newly elected Democratic House members are "a bunch of new conservative Democrats"

Summary: CBS' Bob Schieffer baselessly claimed that many of the freshman Democratic House members are "conservative"; Tucker Carlson called newly elected Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler "more conservative than most Republicans in the House." In fact, the Democratic candidates who won Republican-held seats in the November 7 midterm elections, including Shuler, have said they support central issues in the Democratic platform.

On the November 16 broadcast of the CBS Evening News, CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer baselessly claimed that many of the newly elected Democratic House members are "conservative." Discussing the election of Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) as House majority leader, Schieffer said that "the problem" confronting House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is that "she is going to have in the next Congress a lot of really left-wing liberals in her party that were left over from this session of Congress, plus a bunch of new conservative Democrats who have just been elected. She's going to have to bring them together if the Democrats are going to get anything done." But as Media Matters for America has documented (here and here), the Democratic candidates who, as of November 14, had won Republican-held seats in the November 7 midterm elections have said they support central issues in the Democratic platform -- raising the minimum wage, changing course in Iraq, and opposing any effort to privatize Social Security. Also, these new Democrats largely agree on the most contentious social issues of the day; as Media Matters has noted, all but two of the 28 newly elected Democrats (as of November 14) support embryonic stem cell research and only five describe themselves as "pro-life" on the issue of abortion.

Since then, Democratic Connecticut 2nd Congressional District candidate Joe Courtney has been declared the winner over incumbent Rep. Rob Simmons. Courtney opposes efforts to privatize Social Security, supports raising the minimum wage, supports changing course in Iraq, and supports federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Courtney is also pro-choice.

Media Matters has noted Republicans and other major media figures who have asserted that many newly elected Democratic House members are conservative and contrasted their supposed conservative views with the more liberal views of House leaders.

By contrast, political analyst Stu Rothenberg, in his November 16 Roll Call column (subscription required), rejected what he called the "conventional wisdom" and observed that he couldn't "find much more than a couple" of the newly-elected Democrats "who merit the label 'conservative.' " "Most," he wrote, "are likely to be pretty typical members of their party." From Rothenberg's column:

It quickly has become conventional wisdom that last week's Democratic House victory swept in a crop of moderate and conservative Democrats who'll both keep party liberals in check and help remake the image of the party of former Vice President Al Gore, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and soon-to-be Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Well, I met dozens of Democrats running in 2006 -- no, not everyone, but most of them -- and I can't find much more than a couple who merit the label "conservative." That's not meant to be either criticism or praise. It's merely a statement of fact.

North Carolina Rep.-elect Heath Shuler surely qualifies as a culturally conservative Democrat, but the pro-life, pro-gun Democrat who is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes is the exception, not the rule. Virtually all of the Democrats I interviewed were pro-choice, favored rolling back President Bush's tax cuts and sounded traditional Democratic themes on education, the environment and foreign policy.

[...]

Now let me be very clear about my point. I'm not saying that it's good or bad that most of these Democrats are likely to be pretty typical members of their party. I'm only saying that's where they fit. A bunch of conservative Democrats didn't win election last week.

While Rothenberg described Rep.-elect Heath Shuler (D-NC) as "a culturally conservative Democrat," MSNBC host Tucker Carlson went further on the November 16 edition of MSNBC's Tucker, alleging that Shuler is "more conservative than most Republicans in the House." In fact, as Media Matters has documented, Shuler has said he opposes efforts to privatize Social Security, and supports raising the minimum wage, changing course in Iraq, and embryonic stem cell research.

From the November 16 broadcast of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric:

KATIE COURIC (host): So will Democrats make peace and keep it? Bob Schieffer is our chief Washington correspondent. Bob, the early signs are not too good, are they?

SCHIEFFER: Well, Nancy Pelosi really did not help her cause today, and what has stunned even her supporters is why she would want to wade into this battle where she didn't need to take sides, especially when everybody was telling her that [Rep.] John Murtha [D-PA] simply didn't have the support to get the job [of House majority leader].

It has raised questions about both her leadership and her judgment, and here's why it rises above the level of a feud. She and Steny Hoyer have never gotten along, but here's the problem that she has now -- she is going to have in the next Congress a lot of really left-wing liberals in her party that were left over from this session of Congress, plus a bunch of new conservative Democrats who have just been elected. She's going to have to bring them together if the Democrats are going to get anything done. Not only did this not help that cause today, it has made the gap even wider, and it has raised real questions about her judgment.

From the November 16 edition of MSNBC's Tucker:

CARLSON: [S]he [Pelosi] was one of the architects of this midterm election strategy, in which you saw a lot of genuinely -- or some genuinely conservative Democrats. Heath Shuler -- I mean, that guy's more conservative than most Republicans in the House.

—R.S.K.