“Liberal” is often considered such a bad word that even
liberals won’t use it. Not to frame public policy, not even in reference
to themselves. Unlike conservatives, who embrace their own ideological
label as tightly as the last piece of pound cake, left-wingers have eschewed the term for decades.
While that trend may have been rooted in the Carter years, when Americans elected a bible-toting former Naval officer from South Georgia, it took hold during the Clinton administration. For the Democratic Leadership Council, who called themselves “new Democrats” and hailed a “Third Way,” liberal was an ugly word that lost elections. In the intervening years, words like “progressive” became en vogue.
Today, despite the disparaging context sometimes deployed by wingnuts, it appears “liberal” is making a bit of a comeback.
The percentage of self-described “liberals” is now equal to those who call themselves “conservative” on social issues. The Gallup poll also notes that percentage-wise, social wingnuttery has fallen dramatically.
“Thirty-one percent said they were socially liberal — and 31 percent
said they were socially wingnut,” according to POLITICO.
The current findings “mark the lowest percentage of self-identified social wingnuts and the highest percentage of self-identified social liberals” in the 15 years since Gallup began measuring ideological perspectives in the U.S.
Americans are still more likely to say they are conservative on economic issues, but who would tell anyone that they like being taxed and spending money?
In terms of what is driving the uptick, in all likelihood, the culprit is our increasing ideological divide. Americans are exceeding polarized politically, the evidence of which is on display in every presidential election. The fact is there are few “independents” left in U.S. politics and those that claim to be are almost assuredly telling a tall tale.
I wonder what polling results will look like when liberals stop hiding under independent labels.
While that trend may have been rooted in the Carter years, when Americans elected a bible-toting former Naval officer from South Georgia, it took hold during the Clinton administration. For the Democratic Leadership Council, who called themselves “new Democrats” and hailed a “Third Way,” liberal was an ugly word that lost elections. In the intervening years, words like “progressive” became en vogue.
Today, despite the disparaging context sometimes deployed by wingnuts, it appears “liberal” is making a bit of a comeback.
The percentage of self-described “liberals” is now equal to those who call themselves “conservative” on social issues. The Gallup poll also notes that percentage-wise, social wingnuttery has fallen dramatically.
The current findings “mark the lowest percentage of self-identified social wingnuts and the highest percentage of self-identified social liberals” in the 15 years since Gallup began measuring ideological perspectives in the U.S.
Americans are still more likely to say they are conservative on economic issues, but who would tell anyone that they like being taxed and spending money?
In terms of what is driving the uptick, in all likelihood, the culprit is our increasing ideological divide. Americans are exceeding polarized politically, the evidence of which is on display in every presidential election. The fact is there are few “independents” left in U.S. politics and those that claim to be are almost assuredly telling a tall tale.
I wonder what polling results will look like when liberals stop hiding under independent labels.
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