Americans Are Far Less Conservative Than the Right Wing Claims

[kpete]

Americans Are Far Less Conservative Than the Right Wing Claims
New research suggests that only a quarter of self-identified “conservatives” may actually be true conservatives on the issues. Many aren't conservative at all.
January 17, 2011 |


Among the many memes floating around in the wake of the 2010 election is that America has taken a rightward turn, and conservative pundits seem re-energized in calling America a center-right nation. After all, a plurality of American voters (42 percent) now call themselves “conservative” — as compared to just 35 percent who say they are “moderate” and 20 percent who say they are “liberal.” Two years ago, moderates and conservatives both were at 37 percent.

But new research http://www.unc.edu/~jstimson/Pathways.pdf suggests that pundits ought to be cautious of overinterpreting the conservative label: It doesn’t always mean what they think it means: Only a quarter of self-identified “conservatives” may actually be true conservatives on the issues — less than the 30 percent of whom are not conservative at all, but simply like the label.

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According to their research, some people genuinely know what it means to be a conservative in the current political debate and indeed express matching preferences across all issues. But these “constrained conservatives” (as Ellis and Stimson call them) account for only 26 percent of all self-identified conservatives.

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A good part of the reason why moral conservatives keep calling themselves conservative (despite dubiously conservative issue positions) is that these are voters who don’t follow politics closely enough to fully understand what it means to be a political conservative. Conflicted conservatives, meanwhile, identify as conservatives because they hear liberals defend programs and Republicans defend principles and agree with both without confronting the contradictions.

THE REST:
http://www.alternet.org/teaparty/149561/americans_are_far_less_conservative_than_the_right_wing_claims/

[FiveGoodMen]

1. Which does us no good unless we can get the right wing out of the power positions

[WingDinger]

3. You're kidding right? We win the public debate, we do as we must.

You put the cart before the horse. They don't have the power, till you tell them they do.

[FiveGoodMen]

5. They have the legislative seats.

They were told they had that power when they won the elections.

You try telling the pukes in the house that they don't have power because you haven't said so yet.

[WingDinger]

7. When they commit hubris, in being tonedeaf to Americans, as is certain

considering the RINO purges, they will pay political capital at an alarming rate.

[FiveGoodMen]

15. What makes you think so?

Haven't seen ANY sign of that so far.

[WingDinger]

16. That's why. The Gods are hungry. And ill tempered.

[Hello_Kitty]

2. I had a voter at the door tell me she was conservative because she wanted to protect the environment

Which makes logical sense if you don't understand what's behind the labels.

[Spider Jerusalem]

12. She clearly meant "a conservationist", not "conservative"

[Hello_Kitty]

13. I was there. She said she was a conservative and voting Republican. For the environment.

Naturally I explained to her why that wasn't a good choice and gave her websites to consult.

[earth mom]

4. I've always known that die hard rethuglicans are fringe. They own the media in order to brainwash

the masses.

True Rethugs are evil personified.

[pnorman]

6. k & R!

But it isn't anything we can take to the bank yet!

[Gregorian]

8. This is why the right wing media has to be so shrill.

Complete with glitter and pomp. It is why money must be pumped into fake movements like the T-party.

[Spider Jerusalem]

9. Americans have no idea what "conservative" actually means anyway

In US political usage "conservative" has come to define a species of right-wing extremist who is loudly religious, anti-abortion, anti-gay rights, anti-feminist, anti-affirmative action, anti-immigration, and anti-"big government". So-called American conservatism is more defined by social issues than political ones thanks to forty-plus years of the Republican Party co-opting the anger and resentments of the white working class who see the world changing and don't like it and would like to return to some idealised 1950's existence; in its most basic form so-called American conservatism is profoundly reactionary.

[Urban Prairie]

10. Considering that the teabaggers and "true" activist rightwingers

are about as far to the right as demonstrably possible, without completely dropping off of society's edge, that appears to be fairly obvious to everyone who isn't an enthusiastic adherent to their very exclusionary and intolerant ideology.

[social_critic]

11. OK, so let's legalize pot

I wonder, seeing that we're so liberal, why can't we just legalize pot and stop the bs about a war on drugs? Anybody with a tad of common sense knows pot is ok. We could, on the other hand, outlaw gun powder. This way those who want to can bear arms, and the rest of us can arm bears. Or something like that.

[maxsolomon]

14. the GOP endorses liberal gun laws, economic Liberalism, etc.

most "Conservatives" just know that they hate "Liberals", but endorse many many liberal policies that "Liberals" don't. basically, they don't know shit from shinola.

[ljm2002]

17. "Americans Are Far More Liberal Than the Right Wing Claims"

That is how I would have phrased it.

Framing.

[AndyTiedye]

18. Means That 30% Call Themselves Conservative Because The Tee Vee Made "Liberal" a Dirty Word

and most of them vote that way too, because the tee vee tells them too.