Are liberals the majority?

[KingFlorez]

If you don't count social issues, a big chunk of people in this country are economically liberal. But, does that number constitute a majority or not? Personally, I think it is a majority.

[Syrinx]

1. I think most people are liberals

Most of them just don't know it. They've been scared away from the word by the right-wing talking points.

[AX10]

2. On economic issues, yes.

On social issues, now that is a different story.

[Finder]

3. I think social liberals are the majority.

but fiscal conservatives are a majority. I think that is what is so confusing to the partisan loyalists on both sides.

[Sammy Pepys]

6. Agreed...n/t

...

[jsamuel]

18. I think they are both, they aren't mutually exclusive...

fiscally liberal = spend money on programs that help people (social security, medicare,...)
fiscally conservative = DON'T spend money on programs that DON'T help people

We can do both.

[ArbustoBuster]

19. That's the best explanation of that I've seen so far.

And I say that as a fiscal conservative. It's exactly how I look at it, although I hadn't been able to put it in terms that were that pithy in the past.

[Initech]

4. If it's economic issues we're talking about...

Why do the conservative right keep getting elected in this country by constantly boiling elections down to how much taxes will be raised?

[eallen]

5. If you don't count social issues, why should I care?

I value freedom ahead of security. I can dicker with various sides over the exact makeup of various government programs. But I'm not willing to give up on freedoms, from contraception to stem cell research.

[Warren DeMontague]

7. I think the idea that Americans aren't SOCIALLY liberal is THE big lie.

Not socially liberal on what issues? Abortion? The majority of Americans are pro-choice.

That doesn't seem to register with some folks, for some reason, so I'll say it again:

The majority of Americans are pro-choice.

The idea that these heartland "values voters" who hate gays and pro-choicers and atheist whackjobs have big numbers or are in any kind of ascendency is a lie perpetuated by the corporations that manage our news "reality"-- and oversee the wholesale theft of our elections. It's not true.

Add to that the fact that our electoral system, such as it is, is set up to give voters in podunk middle America more of a say than the millions of educated, socially liberarian, urban voters who drive much of our economy. 33 Million Californians control 1/50th the US Senate. So do 400,000 Wyoming residents.

So, yes, liberals are the majority- on social issues, concepts of personal liberty & self-determination as well as economic issues.

[bunkerbuster1]

22. yep yep yep. Pro choice, live and let live

Most Americans, I don't think, are really interested in controlling other people's lives.

and everything you write about our fucked-up, unrepresentative legislature is so very true.

Dirt doesn't vote anywhere in the world like it does in this country. I'd support any Constitutional measures to eradicate this stupidity, in order to stop giving, as you so eloquently put it, "voters in podunk middle America more of a say than the millions of educated, socially libertarian, urban voters who drive much of our economy."

[Strawman]

8. It's difficult to make sound claims about the "ideology" of the majority

You have your hard cores on both sides and then people in the middle who don't have hardened or consistent ideologies. You can say they have non-attitudes, or environmentally conditional attitudes. It's hard to say what the majority of people really are.

[BillZBubb]

9. No, liberals are a minority.

A majority agree with many liberal ideas. But, for most of them, liberal ideas don't hold as high a priority for them as their conservative issues. Take for instance the environment. A huge majority is receptive to ideas of a clean environment. Yet, majorities keep electing Republicans who have nothing but disdain for the environment.

A majority favor a strong social safety net, yet when it comes time to vote, the guys promising tax cuts win every time.

It's a matter of priorities and committment. You are not really a liberal, no matter what you say you support, if you vote based on other issues. Therefore, a majority is not liberal at all.

[BlooInBloo]

10. Nah. Idiots are. They're why we're in this mess.

[MikeNearMcChord]

11. Probably more(small L) libertarian on social issues

and probably becoming more populist on economic. The "Conservative" has been a turn off in both social and economic issues.

[sandnsea]

14. I agree

I think most people are socially conservative, in their own lives, but libertarian in the sense of staying out of others' business. And I think people would prefer our taxes go to programs that directly benefit people instead of the corporate privatization strategy we've got now.

[Warren DeMontague]

20. Which is why I'm totally befuddled that our party won't more agressively

embrace a stance of small-l social libertarianism. Instead, we have people running away from reproductive choice, gay rights, separation of church and state. Which think tank geniuses are responsible for that?

I think the way to win is to field candidates that strongly and clearly articulate a stance of getting the government OUT of people's personal lives, their bedrooms, their bodies, their bloodstreams, and their most intimate, personal decisions throughout and up until the end of life--- all of which should be TOTALLY under their own control.

[Mythsaje]

12. I'd say

that the "majority" of Americans don't "get" politics. It's just noise to them. He said/she said nonsense. Just another group of people who want to control their lives.

[blm]

13. If the media was honest about the term we'd be a SUPER majority.

Fact is, if the Republicans were in charge at the beginning of this country, our national anthem today would be God Save the Queen. They are Royalists at their very core.

[neoblues]

15. Yes, but many are Silent...

So, a partially Silent Majority?

[neoblues]

16. Also, the "Unheard" Majority... nt.

[rucky]

17. Globally, for sure. n/t

[Radio_Guy]

21. Let's look at the dictionary

The American Heritage Dictionary states liberals are:

a. free from bigotry

b. open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded

c. Of, relating to, or characteristic of liberalism (OK, why is it now OK to use the word to define the word?)

I believe, by and large, the majority of those living in the US are liberals. Of course, there are exceptions.

[Iris]

23. I t hink if you laid out liberal ideas without attaching the world

"liberal" to them, most people would agree with them. Hell, most people wouldn't even question their validity.