A plurality of Americans self-identify as conservative
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 11:19 am
- 8 Comments
According to new numbers from Gallup, more than four in ten Americans describe themselves as conservative, significantly more than the 35 percent who describe themselves as moderate, and more than double the 20 percent who describe themselves as liberal. If this holds for the rest of the year, the 42 percent of self-identified conservatives would be a record high for Gallup in its nearly 20 years of asking the question, which seems to hint at a conservative revival.
That said, it’s worth looking at the historical trends for this survey, to see if this is really as unusual as it seems.
Here are more data from Gallup:
Forty-two percent is the highest percentage in a long time, but it’s not much higher than last year — when 40 percent of Americans self-identified as conservative — and only somewhat higher than 2006 and 2008, when 37 percent of Americans self-identified as conservative. And if you take this in addition to the recent NBC/Wall Street Journal survey on ideology — where 38 percent of Americans self-identified as conservative — it’s not clear that there’s actually anything different about Gallup’s results. Americans always prefer to describe themselves as moderate or conservative, even when (as was the case in 1992 and 2008) they deliver the majority of their votes to liberal congressional majorities and presidential candidates.
8 Comments
Comment posted June 25, 2010 @ 12:45 pm
And this is why Bachmann will win in a walk no matter what her hateful enemies throw at her.
Comment posted June 25, 2010 @ 5:41 pm
Yeah! Michelle Bachmann is a victim of hate! All you people that believe in marriage equality, workers rights, and the helping victims of disasters need to shut up! Thanks Dennis, keep speaking the truth!
Comment posted June 25, 2010 @ 11:53 pm
Traditionally, “radical” and “conservative” were mutually exclusive concepts. This has changed incrementally over the past several years. The GOP has brought real innovation to anti-intellectualism, political amnesia, and the politics of social destruction.
“Americans always prefer to describe themselves as moderate or conservative” By the survey, that is 23% wrong. Many neocons prefer to describe themselves as moderate. They either lie to themselves or do not like to be recognized as extreme, even when they are.
Comment posted June 26, 2010 @ 9:19 am
I agree ZeraLee.
But it’s all a matter of perspective. “Conservative” has always meant traditional values. Traditional religious values, traditional values regarding self-reliance and an economy based on private enterprise.
But with the radical agenda of the left, including government-run health care, attempts to re-define marriage, and more government control over private enterprise, people who embrace traditional values are now on the defensive.
Those who decided they will not go along nicely have fought back and so have been labeled by the left as “radicals” and “extremists” when in fact, it’s all relative, isn’t it? Especially since no one, certainly not the press, has seen fit to label what the left is trying to do as “radical.”
Comment posted June 26, 2010 @ 9:28 am
Oh, and what can be more “anti-intellectual” than an ideology that’s based on the simple principle that if I earn a loaf of bread, you deserve half of it?
Because when you boil it all down, while the real intellectual debate in this country, the role of government, is on the right, the left ponders that deep philosophical dilemma of how you should divide my loaf of bread.
Comment posted June 27, 2010 @ 10:31 am
Dennis – I believe that is the stupidest thing you have written to date.
Comment posted June 28, 2010 @ 7:42 am
Dennis – prove me wrong – show me something that you have written previously on this site that is dumber than “an ideology that’s based on the simple principle that if I earn a loaf of bread, you deserve half of it”.
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