Poll: More say Dems too liberal than say GOP too conservative
By: Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent
06/14/10 6:32 AM EDT
Perhaps the main goal of the Democratic party and some of their advocates in the press this election year is to portray the Republican party as having been captured by the far right. Yes, Democrats have made some mistakes, they will argue, but the GOP has become little more than a party of extremists.
That's not how the public sees it. A new Gallup poll asked respondents whether they think the views of the Democratic party are "too conservative, too liberal, or about right" and then asked the same question about the Republican party. The results: 49 percent of those surveyed say the Democratic party is too liberal, while 40 percent say the GOP is too conservative. That 49 percent figure for Democrats, Gallup says, is the highest number for the party since 1994, just before Republicans won the House and Senate.
The number of Americans who say the Democratic party is too liberal has been increasing in the last two years, while the number who say the Republican party is too conservative has been decreasing. In 2008, 39 percent of those surveyed by Gallup said the Democratic party was too liberal; now, it's ten points higher. In 2008, 43 percent of those surveyed said the GOP was too conservative; now, it's three points lower.
The change in perception of Democrats has been most marked among independents. In 2008, 40 percent of independents said the Democratic party was too liberal. Now, it's 52 percent. (Gallup did not include the ideological breakdown for the perception of Republicans.)
"A common strategy in U.S. electoral politics is for Republican candidates to try to paint their Democratic opponents as too far left, and Democratic candidates to try to convince voters that their Republican opponents are too far right," Gallup concludes. "Currently, by 49 percent to 40 percent, more Americans perceive the Democratic Party as too liberal than say the Republican Party is too conservative, giving the Republicans an advantage in an important election year."
Read more at the Washington Examiner: washingtonexaminer.com |
