It has often been said that the U.S. is a conservative country, or at least is middle-right. A recent Gallop poll confirms that. 
When asked whether they are conservative, very conservative, moderate, liberal, or very liberal, conservatives beats liberals in all 50 states. Even in the notoriously liberal northeast, conservatives actually edge out liberals. The only place liberals outnumber conservatives is in Washington D.C.
This is both reassuring and troubling.
It's reassuring since it does support the belief that America is a conservative nation and that Republicans--when they're
conservative--are more often in line with the values and ideology of mainstream America. And that's true even in supposedly liberal regions of the country.
It's troubling, however, because despite the conservative nature of the country, somehow we've still elected a liberal president and a liberal Congress.
That tells me that liberal candidates are better at delivering their message to the American public, and they're more effective at getting Americans to vote for their platform even when it runs counter to their underlying belief system.
It seems we could draw a few more conclusions and observations from this.
- Obama's Slide in the Polls. Obama's poll numbers have been sliding pretty fast as his policies and proposals have caught the attention of the citizens. People liked him as long as he wasn't doing anything, but once he started really pushing hard on his policies (starting with cap and tax and moving into health care), his poll numbers have slid pretty fast. That would make sense if his policies are not consistent with the ideology of America.
- Elections Won by Conservatives. As I've observed in the past, elections are won by conservatives. Republicans do well when they are conservative and liberals do well when they act conservative. Politicians don't win elections by saying they'll nationalize health care, the automobile industry, the banking industry, or by redistributing the wealth. That's why Obama tried to downplay those concerns before November. In short, the "safe bet" for winning elections is to act conservative even if you aren't. That works because more Americans want to hear their elected officials are conservative rather than liberal.
- Charismatic Liberals. Considering the margin by which Gallop indicates conservatives outnumber liberals, it's no small feat that liberals ever win. I must conclude that liberals win either by being charismatic or by successfully getting people to vote on emotion rather than reasoned analysis or based on their ideology. That's a testament to liberals' capacity to convince, but it makes for a very fragile support structure. Once the charm or emotion wears off, the liberals are in trouble.
- Charismatic Conservatives. This also explains that why a charismatic conservative has been the only recent president to achieve a legitimate and decisive electoral landslide. I'm talking about President Reagan, of course. He took the charisma and combined it with ideology that was consistent with mainstream America and he knocked it out of the park.
- Massive Conservative Opportunity. This also tells me there is massive opportunity for conservatives nationwide. We just need Republicans that actually are conservative and can express their principles in a way that connects with the people. Reagan did it. Someone else can, too.
For all the talk a few months ago of the
Republican party being dead, that the demographics were against the Republican party, the fact remains that a
conservative Republican party has all the demographics in its favor.
Except Washington D.C. We can concede that to the liberals as long as we have conservatives in the White House and Congress.
