# Suggestion: Poll for political leanings
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [January 11, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154 "2012-01-11T13:03:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/1 "2012-01-11T13:03:40Z")
I tried to do a poll once and never figured it out…plus I’d do a very poor job of coming up with the classifications.
How about we come up with a fair listing of types on the political spectrum and then a poll so that we can see where SDMB members put themselves. An open poll so we can see the user names.
To start the discussion I think the extremist of the right are the evangelicals, followed by the your basic conservative and then the fiscal conservatives.
As for the left, the most extreme would be those that …hmmm. See, I said I’d be bad at it.
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### Author:  [@Oliveritaly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oliveritaly)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/2 "2012-01-11T14:23:31Z")
I think it would be very interesting … I’m guessing (and really just guessing) that it skews left.
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### Author:  [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/3 "2012-01-11T16:41:25Z")
It seems to be left, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of Dopers are moderates. Anyone really trying to learn quickly finds out how complicated simple questions can be, and only fools are certain.
That said, the noisiest here tend to be on the extremes and they are more likely to answer the questions of any pole.
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### Author:  [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2012, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/4 "2012-01-13T12:11:58Z")
Hopefully classifications could be listed to learn more than just a claim to be “moderate”.
…and I wasn’t looking for an overall percentage… I want names!
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/5 "2012-01-13T14:41:53Z")
We did this once already. Search for “Political Compass”.
Compared to American demographics, we’re more left leaning, more libertarian leaning, and have few social conservatives.
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/6 "2012-01-13T15:08:24Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> We did this once already. Search for “Political Compass”.
>
> Compared to American demographics, we’re more left leaning, more libertarian leaning, and have few social conservatives.
And the same is true of urban residents generally. Remember that the Dope got its start as (and still is) a column in alternative free weekly tabloids, the sort that you’ll mainly find in cities and college towns. See [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ElectionMapPurpleCounty.jpg) “red and blue” map of America broken down by county, and shaded from red to purple to blue according to local voting behavior. The political-cultural divide is not between North and South, or East and West, or Coasts and Flyover; it is, **everywhere,** between the city and the countryside.
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### Author:  [@IntelliQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IntelliQ)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/7 "2012-01-13T16:03:49Z")
> [@Sitnam](#):
>
> It seems to be left, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of Dopers are moderates. Anyone really trying to learn quickly finds out how complicated simple questions can be, and only fools are certain.
>
> That said, the noisiest here tend to be on the extremes and they are more likely to answer the questions of any pole.
I’ve heard time and time again polling always skews in favor of the left, until of course the actual results come in showing a much stronger showing from the right.
Is that true?
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### Author:  [@IntelliQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IntelliQ)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/8 "2012-01-13T16:19:39Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> We did this once already. Search for “Political Compass”.
>
> Compared to American demographics, we’re more left leaning, more libertarian leaning, and have few social conservatives.
My own view is we are center right in the structure of our daily lives but when it comes to policies people are now tending to be more tolerant, forgiving, and a little liberal as long as they dont think it’s affecting them in any significant negative way. My bozoputer has failed to spit out a political label for this.
It’s a pretty big change in a short time if you look back not long ago to the moral majority’s heyday.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/9 "2012-01-13T16:21:03Z")
> [@IntelliQ](#):
>
> My own view is we are center right in the structure of our daily lives but when it comes to policies people are now tending to be more tolerant, forgiving, and a little liberal as long as they dont think it’s affecting them in any significant negative way. My bozoputer has failed to spit out a political label for this.
>
> It’s a pretty big change in a short time if you look back not long ago to the moral majority’s heyday.
To whom are you referring when you say “we”? Americans or people who post here?
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### Author:  [@IntelliQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IntelliQ)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/10 "2012-01-13T16:24:12Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> To whom are you referring when you say “we”? Americans or people who post here?
Americans in general.
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### Author:  [@IntelliQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IntelliQ)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2012, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/11 "2012-01-13T16:30:56Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> To whom are you referring when you say “we”? Americans or people who post here?
I wanted to add that I’ve been reading the all the forum categories here for a few months now, it’s not easy to speculate specific posters voting preference based on their posts in GQ and the GD forums. (It takes a little gander at the BBQ really to see that emotions give a better indicator to that, than say views on general policies and history)
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### Author:  [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/12 "2012-01-13T16:49:53Z")
Then let me enlighten you - about 80% of the active American posters in GD and the Pit are [yellow dog Democrats](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_dog_Democrat).
In terms of the general position on issues, by American standards the boards are moderately fiscally liberal, and extremely socially liberal.
Regards,
Shodan
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### Author:  [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2012, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/13 "2012-01-14T11:27:27Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> We did this once already. Search for “Political Compass”.
>
> Compared to American demographics, we’re more left leaning, more libertarian leaning, and have few social conservatives.
Found it, thanks. Don’t care much for the classifications though.
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/14 "2012-01-14T23:48:13Z")
> [@What\_the](#):
>
> Found it, thanks. Don’t care much for the classifications though.
What would be a better way to classify political positions?
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### Author:  [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/15 "2012-01-15T13:55:57Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> What would be a better way to classify political positions?
Well, I started by saying that I don’t think I’d do a very good job on my own, but I’m willing to give it a shot.
On the right I think a distinction should be made for…
Evangelicals
conservatives who aren’t particularly religious but are both fiscally and socially so,
fiscal conservatives
and fiscal conservatives who are actually relatively liberal on social issues (Libertarians?).
On the left I think you have …
the true Occupiers who believe that society should take care of them,
those who aren’t quite so left but still believe that wealth should be actively reditributed until things are fair,
succesful liberals who believe some of the same things but in a significant part because of their personal consciences and
the hard working union types
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### Author:  [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2012, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/16 "2012-01-15T19:28:14Z")
[Current thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=608009). Not quite spectrum-based, I think though. And I would argue that a true spectrum ignores all the subtleties.
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### Author:  [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2012, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/17 "2012-01-16T13:34:55Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> What would be a better way to classify political positions?
…and you?
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/18 "2012-01-16T15:38:20Z")
> [@What\_the](#):
>
> …and you?
I think the [Pew Political Typology](http://www.people-press.org/2011/05/04/beyond-red-vs-blue-the-political-typology/) does it well.
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/19 "2012-01-16T15:39:27Z")
> [@What\_the](#):
>
> On the left I think you have …
> the true Occupiers who believe that society should take care of them
:rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2012, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-poll-for-political-leanings/609154/20 "2012-01-18T13:21:42Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> I think the [Pew Political Typology](http://www.people-press.org/2011/05/04/beyond-red-vs-blue-the-political-typology/) does it well.
Well, as applied to those among us who have participated in the poll referred to above, it’s not telling me anything I didn’t already know:
47% are solid liberal
28% are something called “post-modern”
15% are libertarian
4% are in the two categories designed for the right
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