Milbank: Americans Reclaim The Liberal Label
“Liberal” is no longer a dirty word.
…new polling shows a significant increase in the number of Americans who describe themselves as liberal and the number of Americans taking liberal positions on issues. Gallup has found the percentage of Americans calling themselves social liberals has equaled the percentage of social conservatives for the first time since pollsters began asking the question in 1999 (when 39 percent identified as conservative and 21 percent as liberal). Democrats are more likely to call themselves liberal and Republicans are less likely to embrace the “conservative” description, opting instead for moderate.
Likewise, Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducts the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll with Democrat Fred Yang, has identified a sudden and unexpected shift in ideology among registered voters; such views have traditionally been stable. In several polls over the past year, he has seen the proportion of registered voters identifying overall as conservative drop to 33 percent from 37 percent and the percentage identifying as liberal increase to 26 percent from 23 percent…
It used to be assumed that “the public doesn’t like the word liberal,” said Frank Newport, who runs the Gallup surveys. “But that’s changing now. The public certainly finds it more acceptable, when we ask them to put a label on themselves, to use the word liberal than in the past. It would seem that the word liberal is back in vogue.”
And it’s not just a matter of nomenclature. Other Gallup polling finds that Americans are moving in a more liberal direction across the board on social issues. The movement is most striking on same-sex marriage, but it has also occurred on issues such as out-of-wedlock birth, divorce, stem-cell research, suicide, abortion and even polygamy. Two social issues on which Americans didn’t show a more permissive attitude in 2015 than in 2001 were the death penalty and animal testing — but there, too, they’ve embraced a more liberal view.
Copyright 2015 Liberaland
13 responses to Milbank: Americans Reclaim The Liberal Label
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Foundryman June 21st, 2015 at 12:12
It’s no coincidence the further right the republicanTparty moves, the more mainstream republicans call themselves ‘moderates’. But don’t lose sight that these self proclaimed ‘moderates’ are anything other than Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin and Louie Gohmert supporters..
tracey marie June 21st, 2015 at 13:05
we need true republicans to stand up to the teabaggers who are now in charge of the gop.
mea_mark June 21st, 2015 at 13:57
Related article … http://www.salon.com/2015/06/21/texas_may_be_tea_party_heaven_but_activists_arent_happy/ … Tea party heaven in Texas, or is it?
tracey marie June 21st, 2015 at 18:28
We do have our pockets of sanity and the TB are losing their grip because of their ignorance.
tracey marie June 21st, 2015 at 18:32
Finally read the link, they have no ability to compromise, the TB are like toddlers, my way or temper tantrum time.I did like the link.
robert June 21st, 2015 at 19:10
Enter Donald Trump
tracey marie June 21st, 2015 at 19:41
lol, you are kidding, he is nothing more then a blowhard and a con man. Bankruptcies and a loud mouth are not what a true republican is about.
allison1050 June 21st, 2015 at 15:47
I never thought of the word liberal as a dirty word even though others did.
eyelashviper June 21st, 2015 at 18:10
Thanks to Lee Atwater, Newt Gingrich, Pat Buchanan, Reagan, Frank Luntz, et al, the demonization of other Americans and the government has been relatively successful.
In what civilized nation do some citizens consider taxes, government, opposing parties the evil empire and attempt to ruin them…Murika, that’s who!
Wisdom & Victory June 21st, 2015 at 20:28
So-called Conservatism has failed miserably. GOP politicians are merely power-brokers working for the highest bidder. They are rapidly on their way to extinction.
I’m proud to be a broadminded Liberal and not a Conservatwit.
jybarz June 22nd, 2015 at 08:58
Conservatives/republicans/tea party belong to the same family of snakes!
Elliot J. Stamler June 29th, 2015 at 12:42
Stop defaming snakes.
Elliot J. Stamler June 29th, 2015 at 12:50
Although in term of today’s political discourse I do not label myself a liberal but rather a moderate and a centrist (and therefore have conservative [supposedly] views on some subjects), I have posted above my desk a magnificent quote from President Kennedy defining “liberal”….the first vote I ever cast. IT SHOULD SHAME ALL LIBERALS WHO ABANDONED THE HONORABLE WORD ‘LIBERAL’ AND SUBSTITUTED ‘PROGRESSIVE’ THEREBY SURRENDERING TO THE RADICAL RIGHT.
James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, John Kennedy were liberals – in the finest sense of that word. And liberal does not mean strong left. And to some extent..not altogether, Dwight Eisenhower was liberal..I was in high school and college during his tenure. When in 1952 ( gee-I was in junior high then) he entered the nomination race against Taft he specifically said he was running on the principles of, get this now, “Liberal Republicanism.” Just imagine even the most moderate of today’s Republicans saying that.