Which is it? The short answer is, no one knows. For all the talk we hear about Red States vs Blue States or how many more registered Democrats than Republicans there are, my take is that the issue is spun by both sides trying to buttress their respective claims to political ascendancy.
Jeff Jacoby, op-ed columnist for the Boston Globe defined Liberals and Conservatives as follows:
…Liberals (in American usage) are those who tend to favor government intervention as the response to any issue, while conservatives tend to favor private initiate and voluntary action. Liberals generally favor a reduction of choice in the economic realm, while conservatives tend to favor more choice. On social issues, liberals tend to favor the elimination of traditional restraints and taboos, while conservatives are more likely to support them.
So, how is it that we don’t know if the U.S. is more conservative or liberal? After all, isn’t it just a matter of counting heads?
Not really. “…putting all things in American Politics on to a single, one-dimensional, liberal or conservative scale is misleading at best and wholly inadequate at worst.” (nullbull.gnn.tv, 1 Mar 2007). “When you shove opinions about abortion, animal rights, big business, big government, the death penalty, foreign policy, gay rights, gun control, homelessness, immigration, labor unions, logging, Medicare, military power, national security, patriotism, property rights, race, taxation, the Ten Commandments in courthouses, voting machines, and welfare under one umbrella, something’s not going to fit.” (writersbbs.com, Liberal Vs. Conservative).
Looking at the U.S. through a Conservative vs Liberal prism reveals the following:
Mixed Positions on IssuesThose who are counted among the Left and Right often have mixed positions on various issues. For example, many Conservatives who oppose abortion may tend to be more liberal when it comes to social policies, such as education or health care.
Registered Democrats and RepublicansIn the 2004 elections, “An estimated 201.5 million U.S. citizens age 18 or over will be eligible to vote…Of these about 55 million are registered Republicans. About 72 million registered Democrats.” Approximately 27.3% are Republican, 35.7% Democrat, 37.0% are not registered. However, party affiliation notwithstanding, President Bush won the election by three million votes, which may or may not mean the 62 million people who voted for him are Conservative. In addition, the so-called “Blue Dog Democrats” in the South have traditionally been more conservative on various issues than many Republicans, particularly those from the more Liberal states, such as New York or Massachusetts.
To further confuse the issue of whether the U.S. is more Conservative or Liberal, the respective parties in each state often do not have a platform that agrees with their national parties, and candidates from one party may win in a state or states in which they do not have a majority of the officeholders. For example, in 2004, Maine had two Republican Senators but John Kerry won in that state, while George W. Bush won North Carolina in both 2000 and 2004 but “its governor is a Democrat and both houses of its legislature have Democratic majorities.”
Education“In 2004, college graduates were split equally at 49% for both Kerry and Bush: those with postgraduate degrees voted for Kerry by a 10% margin and those with Bachelor’s Degrees voted for Bush by a 6% margin.” (
Wikipedia, Red States and Blue States)
Household Income“…Kerry won in households with less than $50,000 in annual income, and Bush won in households consisting of married couples and those with greater than $50,000 annual income.” (
Wikipedia, Red States and Blue States)
Blue States, Red StatesThe distinction between the so-called Red and Blue states is not clearly delineated. “The county-by-county and district-by-district maps reveal that the true nature of the divide is between urban areas/inner suburbs and suburbs/rural areas. Even in ‘solidly Blue’ states, the majority of voters in rural counties and a slighter majority in suburban areas voted for Bush…and even in ‘solidly Red’ states, a majority of those in urban counties…voted for John Kerry.” (
Wikipedia: Red States and Blue States).
Electoral Votes“One thing that has been consistent over this period (2000-2004) is that the average ‘blue’ state has a greater number of people and electoral votes than does the average ‘red’ state. (When George W. Bush won 31 states in 2004, he gathered 286 electoral votes (53% of 538 total) – an average of 9 electoral votes for each state won…” (
Wikipedia, Red States and Blue States). As we saw in the 2000 election, it is possible to be elected with a majority of the electoral votes but garner less than a majority of the popular vote.
Fiscal ResponsibilityNot all Conservatives are fiscally responsible, nor are all Liberals fiscally irresponsible, in spite of their respective rhetoric, so this issue can hardly be considered the basis for judging whether America is more Conservative or Liberal. The current Republican administration has been one of the biggest spending parties in history, to the great displeasure of most true Conservatives.
ImmigrationUntil recently, the current Republican administration advocated a “Liberal” policy toward illegal immigration, that is, until they were forced to adjust their policy, at least ostensibly. But, it was not until a major grassroots campaign was mounted by “the people” that Congress changed its position.There are a host of other issues, including the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, which many Conservatives having now adopted the Liberal position in opposition, all of which further illustrates the difficulty of trying to determine with any degree of certainty whether the U.S. is more Conservative or Liberal. To the great frustration of both sides, sometimes the country is more Conservative, sometimes it is more Liberal.
© 2007 Harris R. Sherline, All Rights Reserved
