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Conservatives outnumber moderates, liberals
A new Gallup poll finds that conservatives outnumber moderates and liberals. The poll found that 40 percent of Americans say their views are conservatives, 36 percent call their views moderate and only 20 percent say they are liberal.
From 2005 to 2008, moderates outnumbered conservatives but since last June, conservatives have had an edge over moderates. Gallup says it’s due to the fact that more independents (35 percent in 2009, up from 29 percent in 2008) are describing themselves as conservative.
Americans are moving to the right on individual issues, Gallup found:
- Perceptions that there is too much government regulation of business and industry jumped from 38% in September 2008 to 45% in September 2009.
- The percentage of Americans saying they would like to see labor unions have less influence in the country rose from 32% in August 2008 to a record-high 42% in August 2009.
- Public support for keeping the laws governing the sale of firearms the same or making them less strict rose from 49% in October 2008 to 55% in October 2009, also a record high. (The percentage saying the laws should become more strict — the traditionally liberal position — fell from 49% to 44%.)
- The percentage of Americans favoring a decrease in immigration rose from 39% in June/July 2008 to 50% in July 2009.
- The propensity to want the government to “promote traditional values” — as opposed to “not favor any particular set of values” — rose from 48% in 2008 to 53% in 2009. Current support for promoting traditional values is the highest seen in five years.
- The percentage of Americans who consider themselves “pro-life” on abortion rose from 44% in May 2008 to 51% in May 2009, and remained at a slightly elevated 47% in July 2009.
- Americans’ belief that the global warming problem is “exaggerated” in the news rose from 35% in March 2008 to 41% in March 2009.
Democrats still outnumber Republicans 35 to 27 percent. But the gap between the two is shrinking.
Topic: Politics, WorldMagBlog
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back to top87 Comments to “Conservatives outnumber moderates, liberals”
Of course, regionalism plays a role – most self-identified conservatives are in the American South: http://www.gallup.com/poll/122333/Political-Ideology-Conservative-Label-Prevails-South.aspx
Interestingly, there’s seems to be a lot of obesity, wife beating and alcohol and tobacco use in Dixie these days.
http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/cPONDER/default.aspx?page=DisplayAllStates&state=0&year=7&category=1&variable=20
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#1: What is this – straw man day?
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No, it’s silly poll day!
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Apparently Thomas1 fell on the wrong side of the poll.
This has been center right country for as long as I can remember. While it is true that the center has changed by definition, the centrists are the ones who will decide elections.
That is why this administration is in big trouble. With their very left agenda they are tuning out and turning off the middle.
Very accurate poll considering the criteria they used as far as the issues.
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Thomas, but all of those things are higher in the lest conservative segment of the Southern Popualation.
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What about folks from Missouri?
They may be north of where I live but Jesse James, Captain Quantrill et al were southern men at heart.
Can you believe that first class whippin meted out by UT on Mizzou!??
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Gallup had a world-wide rep for polls for a long time. Then, I think about 10 years ago they sold themselves to someone else. Ever since then, it seems to me that I only see the name in connection with more conservative causes. Maybe it’s just me.
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But but but I thought we were shrinking our ranks daily? Musing has told me so. He wouldn’t lie, would he?
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As conservative have children and libs abort theirs, our numbers grow.
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Nicely done Lloyd, nicely done.
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Interestingly, I could find an obese, alcoholic, wife-beating guy named Thomas, too…
I think some of our southern friends need to get on here and see exactly what Thomas thinks of them. But he’s for equality and open-mindedness.
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I don’t put much value on this since the terms conservative and liberal are so vague. Everyone has a different definition. And beyond that, they mean different things depending on where and when you are. I had a great time the other day explaining to my son how Pitt the Elder, architect of empire, was a Whig “liberal” – he had assumed Pitt was a Tory.
When specific issues are labeled conservative or liberal people stop thinking about them. They think – oh, I’m conservative, so I must think such-and-such. That may be good for the politicians, but it’s not so good for any thinking person.
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Speaking of polls, Virginia appears to trending red:
http://race42008.com/2009/10/26/poll-watch-washington-post-virginia-gubernatorial-survey-4/
The poll shows Bob McDonnell leading Creigh Deeds 55% to 44%. Voters trust McDonnell more on issues across the board, including “issues of special concern to women”, where McDonnell leads 49% to 42%. And that was the closest Deeds came to McDonnell on any of the questions, as McDonnell leads by double digits on everything else. McDonnell’s positions are deemed to be “just about right” by 54%, with 34% saying “too conservative.” For Deeds, 46% say he’s too liberal, while 42% say “just about right.”
Pres. Obama and VA Gov. Tim Kaine (a Democrat) continue to receive solid approval ratings, with Obama at 54% and Kaine at 58%. However, voters say they oppose the health care plan being developed by Obama and Congress: 44% strongly oppose, 9% somewhat oppose, 14% somewhat support, and 29% strongly support.
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TJS at 11: Interestingly, I could find an obese, alcoholic, wife-beating guy named Thomas, too…
Of course you could. But it wouldn’t be me!
TJS, go pet a cat. Your blood pressure will drop like a stone.
I posted a link to statistics that you don’t like, but they are true.
Note that while equality is ideal when it comes to human rights, it doesn’t apply to every idea.
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Actually, I’ve changed my mind about Thomas. He doesn’t have anything against southern people. He must have many southern friends. He may even let them use the bathroom.
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Oh please, Thomas. You think my cats would let me sit here and type without petting them?
My point was: lay off the ridiculous generalizations of the South and conservatives.
“Note that while equality is ideal when it comes to human rights, it doesn’t apply to every idea.” — You’ll let me quote that next time a race/gay thread comes up?
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Be careful, IAF and Lloyd – Mynock will come along and tell you that’s a stupid argument. He said that to me last week on another thread (the one about fewer female GOP candidates).
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Matt Y – I can tell you I won’t be voting for Deeds.
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Seriously Thomas, I’m betting that Blue Atlanta or Birmingham are way higher on all those things than the rest of the state. I know the crime rates are higher. Although red states are only slightly higher on most crimes, they are about 4 or 5 times higher in the Democrat run cities within them.
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#9 Wow, Lloyd, that’s rich! I’m still chuckling.
I must admit I have been extremely pessimistic about conservatism in America lately. I still think Republican politicians need to rediscover the small government message, but maybe rational thought isn’t completely dead.
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#12 wins the race to the top comment for today.
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#20 started out well, but the last clause went limp.
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Although I have never lived in the South, I have met quite a few very charming people from the South. Quite a few of them were black, though some were white. I had a very charming and charismatic white boss [rare as I fought with most of my bosses] from Texas.
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Hmmm, well, since I’m from the ’south’, maybe I can do a little chimin’ in here. Down here we say we are ‘fixin’ to go to the store. That may not mean much to anyone else, but WE know what it means. Oh, I don’t beat my wife, drink, or practice obesity, but I still am a Constitutional, Conservative, Christian. And most of the people I run with are too. Now, generally we have a ‘bubba’ or two, who imbibes with the drink and smacks his wife around, but that is in the minority. And we do have our minorities; and they come in all colors. Most are fat, squatty, tall, skinny, hairy and lazy; won’t work and lives off the fat of the govt. To us; those are the minority. . .. .Everyone else works and provides for themselves, um, the majority.
I’m fixin’ to be quite now.
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Is it a revelation that the majority of Americans are right-leaning. That point is so uncontroverted that it is hardly worth noting. That’s why Obama’s progressive agenda is headed nowhere fast.
Of course, that does not mean that the majority of Americans are conservative in the sense that the WorldMag is conservative. After all, I would call myself a conservative because I believe in the value of historical and economic analysis. On the other hand, I’m ambivalent on gay marriage, and am opposed to efforts to criminalize abortion.
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TJS
Thomas is from NY. He already let us know he was looking down his nose at us from the Museum in NY. Do you think we could get someone to take a poll and see if all NY people look down their noses at people who are from the South?
Do you think he is married? He talks about wife beating a lot.
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“Note that while equality is ideal when it comes to human rights, it doesn’t apply to every idea.” Thomas1
I like that quote. Who are you specifically speaking about?
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Thomas1
My first husband was from NY, he was abusive and slept around. I am from the South. Are you thinking that because I am from the South that I deserved it? He slept around because he hung with that type of crowd, not because his needs & wants weren’t met. He even admitted that after we split. He got what he deserved in his second wife–what comes around…
I am VERY THANKFUL for my second husband. It was definitely a God thing.
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All poles lack depth. In today’s technology we should be able to poll via, phone, cell phone, e-mail a much larger segment of the citizens. I receive printed surveys in the mail and usually toss them. Most want some money donations which tells me they discard the survey and cash the checks. As well polls should not be based on “hope things turn out a certain way” and more on
“results of action”
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No spouse deserves to be beaten, News2Me. Ever, under any circumstances. This is exactly why the CDC tracks the incidence of it… and why the American South is a poor place indeed, for health and abusive spouses. I think the idea is to allocate more resources to preventing health problems and abuse, and to helping people who are in that situation make a change.
Unless of course, you think that the Atlanta-based CDC is fudging the numbers.
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These “southern” comments — you’d think the South was a completely different country. It’s not.
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#29
Polls really bother me, especially when used for political purposes.
It bothers me that the questions posed are never straightforward, but they are posed in such a way as to receive the desired answer to prove the pollster’s (or those paying the pollster) point.
The ones that I find particularly aggriegious are the ones from the various political parties conducted over the phone during campaign season that ask for whom you’re planning to vote. I always screen my calls and never answer calls when the caller doesn’t identify himself, but occasionally one slips by. If I receive one of thes types of calls, after giving the pollster a piece of my mind, I then tell him either A) it’s none of his business, or B) I don’t tell anyone how I’m voting. My response is usually related to the mood I’m in. But it galls me that the parties want to know the outcome of the election well before it is decided in the real polling on election day.
Sometimes I am tempted to lie just to skew the results.
Would the president have people form the WH leaking things about Creigh Deeds and his campaign if they had no advance polling information? I think not.
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The South is not a different country, but statistically varied from the rest of the country, as shown above.
Likewise, Italy is one nation, but one wouldn’t confuse Milan with Sorrento, even at night.
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Y’know the old “slime conservatives by maligning southerners” schtick is getting rather old, Thomas. Give it a rest.
Discuss the topic please.
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Back on topic…
I find it rather amusing that many of our liberal friends here on WMB have vehemently and vociferously told us, in absolute terms, that the conservative christian “radical right” was definitely in the extreme minority, and would alienate the rest of the country so badly that we would lose the Republicans the elections next time around.
The rich irony is that Obama’s left leaning policies seem to be doing that very thing for the Democrats….
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“…we would lose the Republicans the elections next time around.
The rich irony is that Obama’s left leaning policies seem to be doing that very thing for the Democrats….,/i>
Polls are not elections, so I think you might have irony deficiency.
And why is it that statistics are only slime to you when liberals use them?
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Neocons outnumber people even more liberal. Put that way it’s believable.
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Because you have an agenda….
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“Polls are not elections, so I think you might have irony deficiency.”
Heh. Tell me that when a lot of Democrats lose their seat come November.
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It’s amazing the number of people in the medical field who are regulars on this site.
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Is there still a civil war going on between the North and the South? And what’s so civil about it?
Last I heard they now have indoor plumbing.
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News2Me,
Yeah… Now we know why we wait so long in the waiting room.
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The other day I got a phone call asking me to help Newt Gingrich by participating in a quick one-question poll: What did I think about the liberals trying to destroy our country?
I sometimes like answering polls, partly to hear what kind of questions are asked, partly to have a chance to offer my opinions. Those that actually ask what I consider to be unbiased questions, with a range of multiple choice answers that include one I agree with, are unfortunately in the minority. But I’d never heard one with such a blatantly leading question before.
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By the way, I didn’t answer it. I said I wasn’t interested in participating and hung up.
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Some people use negative stats on the South to slime conservatives because they think we are all too afraid of being called racist if we point out what I did in posts 5 and 19.
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MIM #41
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Considering all the people from the North who have moved to the South for lower taxes, the attack on Southerners is unwarranted.
The stereotyping of Southerners in interesting considering who’s doing it.
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http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/cPONDER/default.aspx?page=DisplayAllStates&state=0&year=7&category=1&variable=20
Draw your own conclusions.
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I think the term conservative may be morphing before our eyes. I have deep admiration for Ronald Reagan. I’m distrustful of govt-run anything. My inner confederate cringes at the mere mention of anything Federal.
But young folks born in the late 80s have no connection with Reagan and no awareness of the disaster Jimmy Carter et al saddled us all with. By applying current standards even Clinton/Gore were conservatives. There is a sizable amt of folks I know who say they’re conservatives yet have no problem letting a neighbor do marijuana or engage in other so-called personal choice victimless crimes. (They’re more accurately Libertarians..) The GOP really should rediscover all the warnings/prophecies of Barry Goldwater.
Old Barry had the satisfaction of predicting all the resultant disasters caused by unrestricted taxing/spending by a bloated welfare state bureaucracy
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The people I know with inner Confederates would consider people who bust their neighbors over marijuana to be communists.
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If you throw slime at a slimy person, does it stick, or slide right off?
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“Draw your own conclusions.”
I have. See post #37.
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Thomas,
Because the stats of a few people polled (the numbers polled aren’t very many) does it necessarily correlate that conservatives are more abusive than liberals?
This is what you insinuate, and the fact that you’re a liberal, makes me take what you say with a very large grain of salt. It could easily be a quite different correlation – such as poverty levels, or even worse, the polling place.
And the fact that you bring these stats up to obfuscate the real topic really cheeses me off.
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“If you throw slime at a slimy person, does it stick, or slide right off?”
Well, I don’t know… what happened the last time you were slimed?
Right back atcha Random.
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MIM – sample size does play a role. And if you look at the Gallup poll, the sample sizes there are very small. Of course, that’s not your point.
…does it necessarily correlate that conservatives are more abusive than liberals?
No. Here are some traits, though, and a few are telling: http://www.brokenspirits.com/information/the_abuser.asp
Note the obsession with weapons and guns.
Here, note the obsession with rigid, traditional gender roles: http://www.mujereslatinasenaccion.org/Abuser%20Profile.html
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Thomas1, none of your stats have even come close to proving that domestic abuse is more common among conservatives.
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Please re-read comment 54, Kbells.
Not proof at all, I agree.
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“Note the obsession with weapons and guns.”
Maaaannnn! …..poison the well much?
The underlying assumption here is that if anyone likes weapons and guns, that they necessarily are abusive, and conservative.
Like I said, you have an agenda, and I don’t trust you as far as I could throw you.
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Note the word “obsession”.
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“Here, note the obsession with rigid, traditional gender roles.”
Note Thomas use of adjectives. They are clearly tolerant and non biased [/sarcasm off]. Because of conservatives are rightly known for traditional gender roles, he has called them “rigid”. Uh… Thomas, doesn’t the very definition of conservative mean that they are traditional? If you define traditional as “rigid”, then essentially you are demonizing conservatives for being what they are….
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“Not proof at all, I agree.”
Well. Not proof of what you’d like to prove, but proof that you have a liberal agenda, clearly….
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MIM: Like I said, you have an agenda, and I don’t trust you as far as I could throw you.
You couldn’t throw me very far at all, so here we are.
Because of conservatives are rightly known for traditional gender roles, he has called them “rigid”.
Your link-clicky skills need a bit of work, MIM.
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Thomas, the site did not say “obsession with rigid, traditional gender roles” it said “MAY believe in rigid traditional sex roles and gender types.”
It also said abusers tend to blame other for their problems. A liberal trait.
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Uh-oh. From Christianity today: http://onthewing.org/user/Ev_Scandal%20of%20the%20Evangelical%20Conscience.pdf
Physical Abuse in Marriage
Women are more likely to suffer physical abuse in traditional marriages (where the husband is dominant) than in egalitarian marriages – 10.7 percent in traditional marriages versus 3 percent in egalitarian. Evangelicals disagree whether the Bible supports a traditional or egalitarian marriage, but spousal abuse in a study of 20,000 marriages was 400 percent more likely in traditional marriages. It is no less likely among conservative Protestants than others. The figures are more encouraging among that small percentage of evangelicals who not only assent to the truth of Scripture, but actually live it out (roughly 9 percent of evangelicals). P. 26-28; 126-129
Gallup and Barna’s polls demonstrate that evangelical Christians are as likely to embrace lifestyles every bit as hedonistic, materialistic, self-centered, and sexually immoral as the world in general. Divorce is more common among born-again Christians than in the general American population. Only six percent of evangelicals tithe. White evangelicals are the most likely to object to neighbors of another race. Sexual promiscuity of evangelical youth is only a little less outrageous than that of their non-evangelical peers.
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Sorry to get all Victoria-ish, but the emphasis is critical.
Consider also the data source.
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Thomas, I found a couple of sites that said domestic violence is 2 to 3 times more likely among minorities (usually liberal). This would tend to drive up the stats on the South, Evangelicals and people who believed in traditional marriage roles.
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“Your link-clicky skills need a bit of work, MIM.”
And your use of adjectives needs some too….. You should uphold your liberal mandate to be open minded, tolerant, and objective….
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Translation of 66: “I hate your facts, despite all the evidence, so I’ll attack your grammar. Further, I’ll perpetuate disagreement with an obviously kooky statement that liberal people should be open-minded about spousal abuse, as well as tolerant and objective about the incidence spousal abuse among conservatives.”
Q.E.D.
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I think it’s fair to say that America is a center-right country. In my estimation, the Democratic Party is a center-right party. Barack Obama is a centrist president.
I mean, if there were a substantial progressive movement, Kucinich would be president instead of Obama, single payer would be on the table instead of maybe a public option (as long as it doesn’t hurt the industry’s profits too much), and Rove & Cheney would be in jail instead of on Fox.
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Why not?
I ask as someone who still (with only 8 days to do) hasn’t put in the research to decide who to vote for.
I’d be interested in reading links.
McDonnell has been running as a moderate Republican, but I am concerned that he’s actually quite conservative and will govern that way once he’s in Richmond. Deeds has said he’d consider opting Virginia out of the public insurance plan, which destroys (for me) a major reason I’d vote for him over McDonnell. Of course I don’t doubt McDonnell will also try to opt us out, but if both men are going to do it, then I’ll decide on other factors.
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Ron Sider is probably not the most astute analyst and careful parser of statistics. The sexual activity stats depend on aggragation at the state level; it offers no reliable indicator of activity within a subset of that state aggragate.
The reasoning on abuse seems to follow this pattern: Marriages in which the husband is dominant see more spousal violence. Some people describe those marriages as traditional. Evangelicals support traditional marriage. Therefore evangelicals are more likely to beaat their wives. If you don’t immediately see the problems with this syllogism, you haven’t yet studied Logic 101.
Statistics show the greatest abuse occurs in non-traditional famililes, that is temporary cohabitation without benefit of clergy.
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Wow. I leave for a moment, and Thomas revs his attack on conservatives up several more notches. Your “translation” has nothing to do with reality Thomas.
You attempted to slime conservatives, and I called you on it. Now you’re out and out putting words in my mouth, and I’m going to call you on that too.
“I hate your facts, despite all the evidence, so I’ll attack your grammar.”
My argument had absolutely nothing to do with your grammar. It had everything to do with a biased and non-objective use of pajoritive adjectives, with were intended to slime conservatives.
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“Further, I’ll perpetuate disagreement with an obviously kooky statement that liberal people should be open-minded about spousal abuse, as well as tolerant and objective about the incidence spousal abuse among conservatives.””
Did I say you should be open minded about spousal abuse? No, I did not. I did say you should be more objective and nonbiased in your descriptions of conservatives, and that you should examine your underlying assumptions, to wit: that your use of “obsession” betrays a bias against anyone who enjoys weapons and firearms, and that they must be violent, and further, you insinuate they must be conservative. Further you use repeat the adjective “rigid” to insinuate that conservatives are ignorant unedecuated hicks who do not care for facts. Because obviously if they did they wouldn’t exhibit such outdated behaviour as to espouse traditional gender roles.
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Furthermore you slime conservatives by repeating your dubious assertion that the incidence of spousal abuse is higher than that of liberals.
In short, your treatment of conservatives in general, and me in particular, is rather slimy, and I don’t appreciate it. I demand an apology.
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JJF –
Reasons why I won’t be voting for Deeds:
1. Right out of the gate he started with ads attacking McDonnell. What that said to me was, “I have no platform. I don’t want to talk to the issues, and trying to make my opponent look bad is the best I’ve got to run on.” The attack ads prejudiced me to the point where Deeds began in the hole.
2. As a resident of Northern VA, I want to see a governor from Northern VA. We have had too many governors from elsewhere in the state who are not sympathetic to the fact theat the bulk of the taxes are collected up here and go to fund projects (particularly transportation) in other parts of the state. McDonnell is a NOVA candidate. He has the veto pen if he needs to use it.
As a veteran, I think McDonnell is more in tune with the needs of my demograpic (mid-level military veteran).
I did not find the college paper that McDonnell wrote more than 20 years ago to be particularly offensive, even though the exposure of same by Deeds was intended to be a negative.
Since so much is at stake for the Democratic party, and I am not particularly enamoured with the direction in which they are moving this country, I don’t want anyone in Washington to think that as a member of the voting public, I want that to continue. If this is a referendum on President Obama and the current Democratic controlled congress, I want to send a message that We The People of Virginia are NOT interested in more of the same. I want to convey to Warner and Webb that their seats may not be as secure as they’d like to think they are. (Of course, I have written to my representatives go give them my lowly input as one of their constituents regarding their voting records already, and how I will vote wrt their support for the healthcare bill.)
Not that you asked, but in the for what it’s worth category, I will be voting for the Democrat in my state delegate race. His Republican opponent has also launched attack ads, which once again have prejuciced me against him. Although, I wasn’t much impressed with what I saw before the attack ads came out. His platform looks a lot like the Democrat incumbent’s platform. I usualy advocate voting out incumbents, but in this case, I believe the incumbent is the better candidate.
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Well, KLasko, you are sending Dem money and Obama to NJ.
The most a Republican victory could do here is send a national message to Obama. They expect the legislature to remain Dem, even though every seat is up for grabs. And if we have a Dem legislature, we’re still going to get the same bills, maybe a few vetos from a Republican governor. I don’t think things will change here much. But I’m hoping I’m wrong.
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Sorry Jersey. I’ll be praying on election day. For both of our states and for our country. And for the house seat in NY.
A national message will be good. Frankly, I want them to be surprised on both sides of the aisle at the mid-term upsets.
I hope they continue to underestimate the voting public.
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Thanks, Klasko.
I asked a friend of mine, and he didn’t like Deeds’s negative campaign either. Called him sleazy. I don’t have a TV, so I haven’t seen any of the ads.
It’s funny, though, that your other two reasons would argue the other way in my case. Deeds is actually from my part of the state, and I’d consider voting Democratic just to send a message to the national Republican party that their fearmongering and obstructionism has not endeared them to me.
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#69 JJF “I think it’s fair to say that America is a center-right country. In my estimation, the Democratic Party is a center-right party. Barack Obama is a centrist president.”
Wow! Is a socialist (Carol Browner) now center-right? If someone calls himself a Marxist (Van Jones) is he now center-right? If someone calls the free market nonsense are they center-right? (Ron Bloom, Andy Stern) If someone calls Chairman Mao their favorite philosopher (Anita Dunn) are they now center-right? If someone surrounds himself with Marxists and socialists and uses government to take over banks, a car company and campaigns on a government single payer health system is now center right?
Apparently every one is now center-right except for one Berkley English professor named Floyd.
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JJF –
I understand how and why you would vote a different way than I would vote.
About the negative campaigning – I was soooooo over the negative campaining in the presidential election, and the surrogate who operated here on this blog whose only purpose was to find the most negative things to post about all things Republican, Bush, McCain, Palin, well you get the idea. I felt like I had been bludgeoned and I had resolved that I would be hard pressed to vote for a candidate who employed those tactics. I was getting the ads in the mail too.
Also, I’m not happy with the Republican party either these days, and often I see them as the lesser of two evils.
I’d like to see a candidate who hasn’t been bought and paid for by either party or special interests that I could really get behind.
You espouse some things I don’t espouse and that’s why were both going to vote the way we’re going to vote.
Just want you to know – no hard feelings.
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Klasko:
Fair enough. I’ve come to see the Democratic Party the same way — the lesser of two evils.
That’s not to say I’m voting for Deeds. Like I said, still deciding. I plan to do some reading this weekend on the two of them.
Anyway, I appreciate the kind words.
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XION: Wow! Is a socialist (Carol Browner) now center-right? If someone calls himself a Marxist (Van Jones) is he now center-right? I. .. . . .
Funny X. Someone was dribbling cheerio-milk down the front of their shirt when that was blurted out. Center-right of what? I tend to agree with ya on this one. Bama couldn’t be center-right of anything when he is all the way left. Even Chavez said Obama was left of him!. . .
Never in the history of this country, have we ever had a President that leaned this far to the left. What enrages me, is that some people fall for his garbage like a hummingbird is drawn to nectar. I mean it’s like calling 911 to come unlock your car when you are in a convertible!. . . .
Intelligence is always starving to death.
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JJF – Good luck with the homework this weekend.
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“Conservatives outnumber moderates, liberals”
And cockroaches outnumber them all!
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I’m guessing this is a reaction to Obama being in office and doing a number of “high-profile” big government type moves. The bailouts, trying to revamp health care, etc.
During the Bush years, an independent who didn’t like Bush would be more likely to call himself a liberal, just because to call himself conservative would be to align himself with Bush. That same person may now call himself a conservative because he disagrees with the things Obama is doing.
It would be interesting to see how the Conservative/Moderate/Liberal makeup changed between the last year of Clinton’s presidency and the first year of Bush’s. Or maybe Carter/Reagan.
To post some other poll numbers (also from Gallup), from 8/31/2009 to 9/2/2009 people were asked whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the Republican and Democratic parties.
Republican: Favorable 40%, Unfavorable 56%
Democratic: Favorable 51%, Unfavorable 45%
Link: http://pollingreport.com/institut2.htm
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Buddy,
Those are much higher than the most recent poll I saw.
The Republicans were under 25% favorability. The Dems were at 45%.
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Of course, these numbers may just mean that self-identifying “conservatives” are more disenchanted with the Republican party than self-identified “liberals” are with the Democratic party. Which makes some sense to me.
On the flip side, there are also some results that bolster the “more people are conservative than liberal” hypothesis. For instance, another Gallup poll during that same exact time period asked people their opinions on the conservative/liberal bent of the Supreme Court. When asked whether they thought the Supreme Court was “too liberal”, “too conservative” or “about right” the results were:
Too liberal: 28%
Too conservative: 19%
About right: 50%
This breakdown has been pretty inconsistent, though, over the life of that particular poll.
In 2005 it looked like the two camps were even. In 2006, 2007 and 2008 it looked like liberals were the majority. In 2009 it now looks like conservatives are the majority.
My take on this: it tracks whether the current sitting president is deemed to be “conservative” or “liberal”. When he/she is conservative it makes people think government (including the court) is “too conservative”. When he/she is liberal it has the opposite effect.
http://www.pollingreport.com/court.htm
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