Parsing polls: "Liberal" still a "dirty word," "conservative" an acceptable one

[DeepModem Mom]

WP political blog, "The Fix," by Chris Cillizza
Parsing the Polls: Choosing the Right (or Left) Words

....Thanks in large part to the work of conservative operatives and politicians who reached an apex in the 1980s, "liberal" has gone from simply a descriptive term to a pejorative one. Democrats -- especially those in the South, Plains and Rocky Mountains -- bristle at being described as a "liberal" either because of the negative connotations it evokes among voters, or because they assert that the term doesn't accurately describe their political philosophy. Some of these Democrats who might be accurately described as "liberal", have taken to referring to themselves as "progressive" or "populist" in recent years, which are generally considered less loaded terms in the political debate.

A new Gallup survey, conducted at the end of November of a national sample of 1,003 adults, sheds light on how familiar people are with terms like "liberal", "conservative" and "progressive" and what each of those words mean to them....

***

Asked to name which words fits their political thinking best, "conservative" ruled the roost with 54 percent saying it applied to them. Contrast that with the 34 percent who said "liberal" was an apt description of their political philosophy and you quickly see the image problem Democrats have struggled with in recent elections.

Even in the national exit poll conducted in this year's midterms, just 20 percent of the sample identified themselves as "liberals" -- twelve percent fewer than called themselves "conservatives." Self-identifying moderates made up nearly half -- 47 percent -- of the sample. (In the Gallup survey, 53 percent said the term "moderate" applied to them while 40 percent said it did not.) When asked their party identification, however, 38 percent said Democrat compared to 36 percent who said Republican and 26 percent who called themselves independents. That means that many Democrats no longer see themselves as liberals and choose to identify their ideology as moderate or even conservative while still retaining their Democratic party affiliation.... The terms that frame the political debate in this country remain skewed toward Republicans -- "liberal" remains a dirty word, "conservative" an acceptable one. Whether or not "liberal" or "conservative" can or should be automatically applied to either party is debatable, but the fact remains that many voters associate conservatism with the GOP and liberalism with the Democratic Party....

***

So given the stark numbers in this Gallup poll, which are backed up by recent national exit polling, Democrats seem to be at a linguistic crossroads: Either they work to rehabilitate the meaning of "liberal" or scrap it entirely in favor of lesser-known (and therefore less politically potent) terms like "populist" or "progressive"....

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2006/12/parsing_the_polls_political_id.html#more

[Quantess]

1. Neo-cons aren't truly conservative.

Definitely NOT for conservative government, definitely NOT for conservative spending. They really haven't earned their name.

[Nite Owl]

2. They should make 'conservative'

the bad word. Conservatives have never done a good thing for the people of our country. And the term 'fiscally conservative' is the most misleading of all. The repukes claim the word conservative yet not one of their Presidents has ever lowered the deficits, they always go up under them. Fiscally responsible is what should be used.
The conservatives have fought against everything for the people from minimum wage to Social Security. So, yes, let's regain the meaning of the word liberal and join it with the word responsible. It is the responsibility of the government to provide for the people. It's the responsibility of the government to protect us and not start needless wars.

[BOSSHOG]

3. I'M A PROUD LIBERAL WHO LIVES IN A RED STATE

and I'm more then happy to share my two cents worth with anyone who'd like to hear (or anyone I think needs to hear.) I'm a military veteran, a law abiding, tax paying productive citizen of my community who gives readily and steadily to charitable organizations. I'm not the greatest with my hands but I roll up my sleeves and assist where I can. Fuck the pejorative. I'm a liberal and my actions are much more valuable to the land of the free then the conservatives in our country. They spend a great deal of time twisting the meaning of words. Liberals spend their time ensuring we remain the land of the free.

To any conservative taking a peak, I got your pejorative swinging right here. And you are welcome for all the effort put forth by liberals to ensure you continue to have constitutional liberties.