New Gallup Poll on Political Self-Identification


Just_A_Guy
 Share

Recommended Posts

What I noticed is that there is more polarization...less moderation.

What is the prophecy??? the one about the righteous becoming more righteous and the wicked more wicked??? I can't remember the reference and its nap time. :)

Not a good correlation. Neither party can be equated to wicked/righteous.

Let's stop this before it divides LDS members...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is Gallup having trouble reading their own data? A shift from 22 to 21% of Democrats identifying with being a liberal is not an upward trend. It is so insignificant that it signals no trend at all.

However, a shift of 4% Republicans to the more conservative column seemed like the better lead in for a story, even if that data is found to be within a normal percentage of plus or minus error.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You're reading the wrong graph, Moksha. You're looking at the graph showing the number of liberals and conservatives as a proportion of the American population--the former has gone down from 22 to 21% over the last year, whereas the latter has grown from 37% to 40%.

Within the Democratic Party, liberals have gone from 29 to 39% of the party since 2000. Within the Republican Party, conservatives have gone from 62% to 71% during the same period.

The polarization is bipartisan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You're reading the wrong graph, Moksha. You're looking at the graph showing the number of liberals and conservatives as a proportion of the American population--the former has gone down from 22 to 21% over the last year, whereas the latter has grown from 37% to 40%.

Within the Democratic Party, liberals have gone from 29 to 39% of the party since 2000. Within the Republican Party, conservatives have gone from 62% to 71% during the same period.

The polarization is bipartisan.

From these numbers it appears the Democratic shift to the left is catching up (albeit very slowly) to the Republican shift to the right?

So there are 61% of people in the Democratic party who are not liberals, and 29% of people in the Republican party are not conservatives.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted (edited) · Hidden
Hidden

To say the Republicans are "shifting" to the right is to imply that they were once, as a body, to the left of where they are now.

If someone says the "center" has suddenly become "conservative", then either a) it's objectively true, or b) it appears true because the speaker, in fact, has moved to the left but cannot recognize that fact.

I'm leaning towards b) here. This is Alinskyism at its finest: make your opponents look like the crazy ones even as you seek a fundamental restructuring of society.

Edited by Just_A_Guy
Link to comment

From these numbers it appears the Democratic shift to the left is catching up (albeit very slowly) to the Republican shift to the right?

When did the Republicans "shift" to the right? I hear this a lot--as if the Republicans have pulled some kind of bait-and-switch; as if they're embracing positions that were never part of the party platform. I just don't see that. I have a hard time seeing a major shift in Republican party policy since 1980.

So there are 61% of people in the Democratic party who are not liberals, and 29% of people in the Republican party are not conservatives.

If the Republican party is drifting rightwards, at least it's because that's what its constituency wants. So what's the Democratic party's excuse for pushing a progressive agenda that the majority of its own members don't support?

Edited by Just_A_Guy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Probably in response to snarly attitudes, but that's just a guess...

With all due respect, Talisyn, your guys are trying to double my health care costs [source document underlying that post is linked wrong; try here], all for the benefit of people who are on the whole failing to use government safeguards that already exist for their benefit (viz. the bankruptcy system).

I reserve the right to get a little cranky.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When did the Republicans "shift" to the right? I hear this a lot--as if the Republicans have pulled some kind of bait-and-switch; as if they're embracing positions that were never part of the party platform. I just don't see that. I have a hard time seeing a major shift in Republican party policy since 1980.

If the Republican party is drifting rightwards, at least it's because that's what its constituency wants. So what's the Democratic party's excuse for pushing a progressive agenda that the majority of its own members don't support?

I have to agree. The left is shifting and the right is standing still. It's all relative and the proof I cite is the abandonment of Lieberman by his own party because he refused to shift with them despite the fact that he was the winning candidate for his constituency. They would rather kick out Liebernam than win a senate seat. And the many excellent books on media bias by Bernard Goldburg. Every news hound needs to read his books for a serious eye opener on how the mainstream media has perpetuated the shift in what is "center".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share