A recent Gallup polls shows an uptick among conservatives to the higest rate in five years…but also has the highest percentage of people calling themselves “liberal” than ever before.
The poll might also provide a hint as to why the Democratic majority
http://www.gallup.com/poll/120… vatives-Single-Largest-Ideological-Group .aspx
The poll shows 40% of Americans consider themselves Conservative, the highest in five years, while 35% call themselves Moderate…only 21% call themselves Liberal, but this is the highest margin ever recorded in Gallup.
More interesting is the party ID, which may explain why there is so much frustration among progressive bloggers with the Democratic Party;
Among Republicans, 73% consider themselves conservative, while only 24% consider themselves moderate and 3% liberal
Among Independents, those numbers are 34%-45%-30%.
Among Democrats, 22% consider themselves Conservative, while 40% say they are moderate and 38% say they are liberal.
This may explain why we can’t get progressive legislation through with the backing of all Democrats…the Democratic Party can’t be as cohesive as the Republicans because the Democratic electorate isn’t.
This could be a drawback to the big tent…the Democratic Party as a whole isn’t progressive, only a percentage of it, so we’re left not being in control of the party, but being part of a coalition where moderate and conservatives have more influence than we’d like.
Think about it…if our Democratic majority is broken down to 22% conservative, 40% moderate, 38% liberal, liberals don’t have a majority…they barely have a minority. We need to start treating the Democratic Party for what it is…a coalition of different ideologies and not the progressive standard bearer. If we want a progressive majority, we need to get these numbers to 40%-50% liberal
Food for thought.