but I was hoping the thread would highlight that the Mudcat, as with most folk clubs, leans somewhat to the left and is liberal in its ideology. As such, it is only to be expected that right wing and conservative views will be frowned upon by the majority.

Well the majority of people using Mudcat will just come in search of songs and tunes and I doubt have any concern about below the line. They will often find what they are looking for using a search engine such as google or the mudcat searches and that will be the end of their vist. They will come from various parts of the world and hold political opinions we know nothing about.

Of the minority of visitors who do contribute to threads, my impression is that it remains a minority of this minority that regularly choose to enter the political topics, although I think political threads are more prominent below the line these days as less else happens…

I’d speculate reasons for what I perceive as low participation amongst this subset include. Not seeing Mudcat as a resource for political discussion (eg. some may well prefer to keep their politics and music separate), not finding much relevant (and much centres around the UK) , feeling that “debates” tend to be circular with no resolution and dislike of the tone of conversation. I’d think it less about other potential contributors not having personal views, etc.