America, a Conservative Nation

[Toro]

No matter the results of the election on Nov. 4, and despite the tarnishing Republicans have given to conservatism, America remains a center-right country.

The Battleground Poll is a comprehensive, bipartisan public opinion poll sponsored by George Washington University and conducted by the Republican Terrance Group and Democratic Lake Research Partners.

In January 2000, the poll asked participants to describe their views of politics and government. Fifteen percent described themselves as very conservative, 39 percent as somewhat conservative, 13 percent as moderate, 24 percent as somewhat liberal and 6 percent as very liberal.

Here are the results of the same Battleground Poll question in October 2008: Twenty percent described themselves as very conservative, 39 percent as somewhat conservative, 3 percent as moderate, 26 percent as somewhat liberal and 10 percent as very liberal.

After eight years of the Bush administration and six years during which Republicans controlled at least one house of Congress, with a skyrocketing deficit and ethical scandals, a highly unpopular war in Iraq and a financial crisis, the number of people who describe themselves as very or somewhat conservative has actually grown from 53 percent to 59 percent. In fact since 2002, the very/mostly conservative segment has held remarkably steady around 60 percent.

Jonathan Gurwitz: A Conservative Reckoning

 

[Zoomie1980]

Jonathan Gurwitz: A Conservative Reckoning

Without a shadow of a doubt, this is essentially a conservative country with mostly Puritanical values. While media gives a lot of press to coastal urban centers as it pertains to national culture, the reality is the VAST and OVERWHELMING majority of the country wants nothing to do with the secular progressive mantra of western Europe.

In America unlike almost every other nation on earth the INDIVIDUAL reigns supreme. We are still captive of "cowboy" culture and a s a people, including our Latino immigrant population, value self-reliance above all. We are generally "embarrassed" to ever have to ask for help and if we do receive some kind of government assistance we tend to hide it from our co-workers.

We may lurch a bit to the left at times, but that is usually an expression of anger with in-power conservatives for betraying us like Nixon did and recently, Bush Jr. But in the end we always move back to the center-right (Truman and Eisenhower to negate 12 years of socialist FDR, Nixon-Ford to counter Kennedy-Johnson, Reagon-Bush-Clinton-Bush....yes Clinton was actually a pretty good conservative...). We will flirt a little with the left this year but will soon dump it and move back to the right, where as a nation, we like it.

Even in this seemingly move the left, Proposition 8 opposing gay marriage in California will win handily even though that is a "blue" state and the anti-affirmative action amendment to the Nebraska constitution will overwhelmingly pass as it did in Michigan a few years ago

We are a center-RIGHT nation to the core and always will be. Our largest immigrant population, Latino, is even more socially conservative than our mainstream....