Gallup: Conservatives Outnumber Liberals 2 to 1

More grim news for liberals and the Democratic Party.

Conservatives have maintained their leading position among U.S. ideological groups in the first half of 2010. Gallup finds 42% of Americans describing themselves as either very conservative or conservative. This is up slightly from the 40% seen for all of 2009 and contrasts with the 20% calling themselves liberal or very liberal.

The 2010 results are based on eight Gallup and USA Today/Gallup surveys conducted from January through June, encompassing interviews with more than 8,000 U.S. adults. The 42% identifying as conservative represents a continuation of the slight but statistically significant edge conservatives achieved over moderates in 2009. Should that figure hold for all of 2010, it would represent the highest annual percentage identifying as conservative in Gallup's history of measuring ideology with this wording, dating to 1992.

I guarantee the left's reaction will be they're not getting their message out, it's Rush Limbaugh's fault and we'll need balance in the media.

The Right's Top 25 Journalists?

A website called the Daily Beast has put together a slideshow of what they classified as the top 25 right-leaning journalists. Only one problem with their list. Very few of the people on the list are what I would call journalists. There are quite a few also I have never heard of, not that that means anything, but you would think the names would have popped up from time to time.

Michelle Malkin manages to walk in both arenas, pundit and journalist, as does the emerging Andrew Brietbart, but talking heads like Laura Ingraham, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, etc. are a far cry from what most would consider a journalist.

The list below is a distillation of responses canvassed from 50 academics, politicians, journalists, and a few unclassifiable (but wise) friends of The Daily Beast.

(From L-R: Michelle Malkin, Matt Drudge, Laura Ingraham)

Conservatives Outnumber Liberals 2-1

Nothing like ruining the day for liberals so early on a Monday morning.

Conservatives continue to outnumber moderates and liberals in the American populace in 2009, confirming a finding that Gallup first noted in June. Forty percent of Americans describe their political views as conservative, 36% as moderate, and 20% as liberal. This marks a shift from 2005 through 2008, when moderates were tied with conservatives as the most prevalent group.

The 2009 data are based on 16 separate Gallup surveys conducted from January through September, encompassing more than 5,000 national adults per quarter. Conservatives have been the dominant ideological group each quarter, with between 39% and 41% of Americans identifying themselves as either "very conservative" or "conservative." Between 35% and 37% of Americans call themselves "moderate," while the percentage calling themselves "very liberal" or "liberal" has consistently registered between 20% and 21% -- making liberals the smallest of the three groups.

Unfortunately, many of those mushy "moderates" are liberals pretending to be moderates, likely too ashamed to admit how hard left they are.

Now if only the Republican Party would wake up and start supporting conservative candidates instead of these weak-kneed RINOs. Much of the promising news from this polls shows a trend of independents moving to the right, which does not bode well for the Democrats as we enter the 2010 election cycle.

Looks Like One Newspaper Is Waking Up

My local paper is the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, often referred to as the NY Times of the south. In an attempt to respond to complaints of media bias they are making a very overt attempt at convincing people that they are ready to change their ways. Recently they held a cattle call for a full time conservative columnist.

In interest of full disclosure I did apply for the opening. I never expected to get the job since I don't have a journalism background, but thought it would be interesting to go through the vetting process and see what kind of feedback I could get. The application was rigorous, well for me anyway, since they asked for examples of investigative reporting you had done as well as asking for samples of your previous writings and at the end they had you write a 5000 word column on a subject they chose.

Well I didn't make the cut, which they have narrowed down to 10 right now with readers encouraged to read what the finalists submitted and vote on. The interesting part was that while I was turned down, they told me my answer to the question what is a conservative was interesting and they may be in contact with me in the future. So it wasn't a total loss.

Anyway they have at least admitted to bias albeit they claim it is in their editorial pages and not so much their news reporting, they are willing to take a look at the perceived problem and address it.

Now … let me discuss the issue that generated the most questions and comments to our publisher. Some readers believe we do a good job of being fair in our coverage and providing a balance of opinions. A few think we’re too conservative. But many more believe that our editorial pages are too liberal and that bias seeps into our news coverage. We have heard you on the bias issue and are taking deliberate steps to address this.

We will see.

When Running Unopposed McCain Enjoys a 50% Approval

I decided to go crunch some numbers--well because I could--to try and find some of rhyme or reason to this years political season. I like a universe that well ordered and works within a specific set of rules, and this year has been anything but that. I think the term "conventional wisdom" can now be thrown out the window.

When compiling some data in regards to the Republican primaries I began to notice a disturbing pattern. In the early portion of the primaries it was a slugfest with the only candidate getting double digit wins over his opponents being Romney. The percentages shown below show how far the margin of victory was between 1st and 2nd place.

I cannot explain the West Virginia vote. McCain got double digit margins of victory on the first Super Tuesday only in strongly Democrat states, like New York and New "The fix is in" Jersey. Romney was still enjoying decent double digit wins, hell the Maverick only won his home state of Arizona by a 13% margin over Romney.

Then people started dropping out. It was not until the March 4 primary in Vermont that McCain was able to get 58% of the vote, when for all intents and purposes he was basically running unopposed! All other primaries that day he was still below 50%.
After that he was able to get up into the 60% group, but still a Republican candidate running unopposed can only get 60 - 70% of his parties vote?

These are the numbers that should be causing sleepless nights for the McCain campaign. I think it is too late to try and make nice with conservatives. They have been sold out for the last time. But if you can only get 60 - 70% of your parties vote on a one person ticket how the hell are you going to win a general election? You had better hope that difference is made up with PUMA (Party Unity My Ass) voters coming over from the Dems, or Mav, you are going to crash and burn and their ain't no ejection seat this time.

STATE DATE OF PRIMARY WINNER MARGIN
IA 1/3/2008 HUCKABEE 9%
WY 1/5/2008 ROMNEY 41%
NH 1/8/2008 MCCAIN 6%
MI 1/15/2008 ROMNEY 9%
NV 1/19/2008 ROMNEY 37%
SC 1/19/2008 MCCAIN 4%
FL 1/29/2008 MCCAIN 5%
ME 2/1/2008 ROMNEY 30%
UT 2/5/2008 ROMNEY 84%
WV 2/5/2008 MCCAIN 66%
AR 2/5/2008 HUCKABEE 40%
CO 2/5/2008 ROMNEY 40%
NJ 2/5/2008 MCCAIN 27%
NY 2/5/2008 MCCAIN 24%
AK 2/5/2008 ROMNEY 23%
IL 2/5/2008 MCCAIN 19%
MN 2/5/2008 ROMNEY 19%
MT 2/5/2008 ROMNEY 14%
DE 2/5/2008 MCCAIN 13%
ND 2/5/2008 ROMNEY 13%
AZ 2/5/2008 MCCAIN 13%
MA 2/5/2008 ROMNEY 10%
CT 2/5/2008 MCCAIN 9%
CA 2/5/2008 MCCAIN 7%
AL 2/5/2008 HUCKABEE 3%
GA 2/5/2008 HUCKABEE 3%
TN 2/5/2008 HUCKABEE 3%
OK 2/5/2008 MCCAIN 3%
MO 2/5/2008 MCCAIN 2%
KS 2/9/2008 HUCKABEE 26%
LA 2/9/2008 HUCKABEE 2%
MD 2/12/2008 MCCAIN 26%
VA 2/12/2008 MCCAIN 10%
WA 2/19/2008 MCCAIN 27%
WI 2/19/2008 MCCAIN 18%
VT 3/4/2008 MCCAIN 58%
RI 3/4/2008 MCCAIN 43%
OH 3/4/2008 MCCAIN 29%
TX 3/4/2008 MCCAIN 14%
MS 3/11/2008 MCCAIN 66%
PA 4/22/2008 MCCAIN 57%
IN 5/6/2008 MCCAIN 67%
NC 5/6/2008 MCCAIN 61%
NE 5/13/2008
HI 5/18/2008
OR 5/20/2008 MCCAIN 69%
KY 5/20/2008 MCCAIN 64%
ID 5/27/2008 MCCAIN 46%
NM 6/3/2008 MCCAIN 71%
SD 6/3/2008 MCCAIN 54%

BTW: It would be nice to actually be able to import a spreadsheet into Blogger. Think you geeks can work on that?

Trust me, that data looks really good in a spreadsheet

The difference between conservatives and Republicans explained

This passage from an article on the NY Times succintly explains the difference between conservatives and Republicans. There was a time when the two words were synonyms but no more.

Some of the ideas from the conservatives have been circulating for months, including an immediate moratorium on seeking money for the pet home-state projects known as earmarks. But other Republicans have rejected that idea, arguing it is a chief responsibility of representatives to win federal aid for local initiatives.

Republicans need to go. Conservatives need to stay. So while the Republican party struggles to define it's "message" or try to figure out how to win elections it would appear that a hardy group of conservatives currently under the Republican banner have a good idea.
What kind of catchy name will they come up to describe these renegades? What are the chances that "Blue Dog" Dems could merge with this group to form a new party that so many Americans are looking for? I can dream right? If they would drop the (D) and (R) from their signature and just work together there may be some real results come out of congress that put the concerns of the nation first and themselves second.

Research Concludes Conservatives are Happier Than Liberals

Honestly, they needed to do a study to conclude this?

Geez, just walk around and see all the scowling liberals on any college campus or moonbat enclave.

In fact, when was the last time a liberal was happy?

Individuals with conservative ideologies are happier than liberal-leaners, and new research pinpoints the reason: Conservatives rationalize social and economic inequalities.

Regardless of marital status, income or church attendance, right-wing individuals reported greater life satisfaction and well-being than left-wingers, the new study found.

Conservatives also scored highest on measures of rationalization, which gauge a person's tendency to justify, or explain away, inequalities.

The rationalization measure included statements such as: "It is not really that big a problem if some people have more of a chance in life than others," and "This country would be better off if we worried less about how equal people are."

Leftists being irrational?

Whodathunkit?

"Our research suggests that inequality takes a greater psychological toll on liberals than on conservatives," the researchers write in the June issue of the journal Psychological Science, "apparently because liberals lack ideological rationalizations that would help them frame inequality in a positive (or at least neutral) light."

The results support and further explain a Pew Research Center survey from 2006, in which 47 percent of conservative Republicans in the U.S. described themselves as "very happy," while only 28 percent of liberal Democrats indicated such cheer,

The 53% of conservatives who didn't rate as very happy apparently live near too many liberals.

If you want to see some leftist rage, just let them know News Corp's quarterly profit just tripled.

NEWS Corporation's quarterly net profit has tripled on higher advertising sales at the Fox TV network and Fox News Channel, as well as a big one-time gain from its stock swap with Liberty Media.

The owner of 20th Century Fox and MySpace said overnight its fiscal third-quarter profit rose to $US2.7 billion ($2.87bn), from $US871m in the year-ago period. The latest results included a $US1.7bn gain from its swap with Liberty Media.

Dumbest Research Report Ever

If liberals are so intelligent, why do they need to come up with these cockamamie studies to prove it? Wouldn't their superior ideas just win everyone over?

Study finds left-wing brain, right-wing brain

Analyzing the data, Sulloway said liberals were 4.9 times as likely as conservatives to show activity in the brain circuits that deal with conflicts, and 2.2 times as likely to score in the top half of the distribution for accuracy.

Sulloway said the results could explain why President Bush demonstrated a single-minded commitment to the Iraq war and why some people perceived Sen. John F. Kerry, the liberal Massachusetts Democrat who opposed Bush in the 2004 presidential race, as a "flip-flopper" for changing his mind about the conflict.

Colleges used to be institutions of higher learning. Now they're seemingly just laboratories for idiotic studies designed to show how the left is so intellectually superior.

Social Conservatives Still Backing Giuliani

Of course, it may not last, especially if Fred Thompson jumps in. Still, I think people tend to pigeonhole conservatives as a bunch of narrowminded yahoos who can't look past abortion for the bigger picture.

The bigger picture, of course, is national security and as I've noted several times, without national security and stability, does abortion really matter?

Rudy Giuliani, whose positions on abortion and homosexuality mark him as the most socially liberal Republican presidential candidate in more than a generation, is so far winning the contest for the support of social conservatives, according to a new analysis of recent polls.

Widespread perceptions that Giuliani is the most electable Republican in this year's field are driving his support among social conservatives, according to the analysis by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

If the trend holds, this apparent willingness to support a candidate who fails what were once regarded as litmus-test issues would mark a landmark shift in the political behavior of a constituency that has been a pillar of the modern GOP. Already the shift is spurring sharp debate among prominent Christian conservative leaders, some of whom warn that Giuliani backers are abandoning core principles.

Consider also, if he does indeed win the nomination, who his opponent may be. Are conservatives actually going to vote for Mrs. Clinton or an empty suit like Barack Obama?

I don't think so.

So let the media harp on abortion and gay rights, as they want to torpedo Giuliani any way they can.

Some of us can overlook a few negatives if he's the GOP nominee. When it boils down to a major crisis, who would you rather have a poll-driven ultra-liberal like Mrs. Clinton or the junior senator fromn Illinois in charge?

I doubt it.

QubeTV

This sounds like a good idea.

Railing against YouTube, two Republican White House veterans have launched QubeTV as a the conservative alternative.

"The 2008 campaign will be dominated by video and in particular by user-generated video," said QubeTV founder Charlie Gerow, a former aide in the Ronald Reagan White House.

"There are a vast array of young conservative activists and operatives out there armed with cell phones or hand-held that are going to capture the next 'macaca' moment or John Kerry bad joke and put them on Qube TV," said Gerow, whose Pennsylvania strategic media firm, Quantum Communications, created the website.

Gerow insists YouTube banned a video by conservative blogger Michelle Malkin about radical Islamists.

Far too many Internet sites such as YouTube and Digg have been overrun by adolescents. They can have their playground and enjoy the echo chamber.