# This is not meant to be a political topic. \[Percentage of Democrats/Republicans on SDMB\] **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 13, 2018, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484 "2018-11-13T23:28:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![supposedly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7993a0/32.png) [@supposedly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supposedly)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/1 "2018-11-13T23:28:48Z")
I am wondering what dopers would estimate the Republican/Democrat makeup is of the Straight Dope membership. Although this is a question about politics it is not meant to illicit partisan comments. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/2 "2018-11-13T23:30:19Z")
There were polls done here before (not a scientific sample, of course) that indicated roughly 70-80% liberal. I’ll see if I can find one in IMHO from years past. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/3 "2018-11-14T00:23:20Z")
Since this is asking for opinions, let’s move it to IMHO. Title edited to indicate subject. Please use descriptive thread titles. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/4 "2018-11-14T00:42:56Z")
I don’t seem to have access to polls through Tapatalk. I am registered Independent, had voted pretty consistently Republican for Federal positions and Democratic for local elections until the 2000s. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/5 "2018-11-14T00:50:53Z")
The linked thread is now 12 years old: > **[Political Compass scores of Straight Dope members.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=330917)** > > All those who displayed their score in my Political Compass threads are shown below. I’ve acknowledged those who do not consider their score to be an accurate reflection of their political orientation and eliminated them from any statistical... [https://www.1728.org/SD.htm](https://www.1728.org/SD.htm) There are very few traditional Conservatives, but the number of Libertarians is not completely insignificant. My guess would be that most of the Conservatives have migrated into Libertarian territory since that poll, but one would need to do a fresh round of Political Compass tests to verify. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/6 "2018-11-14T00:56:38Z")
80/20, if not even more partisan than that. You could start a poll to see what people say. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/7 "2018-11-14T01:10:24Z")
It’s going to be difficult to parse this out according to the rigid Dem/GOP divide, since there are many schools of thought in each. I would suggest maybe more like Blue-leaning (Democrat, progressive, liberal, etc.) compared to Red-leaning (social and fiscal Conservative, Libertarian, etc.), based on current left and right thinking. Just a thought. I would estimate this board is more partisan that so far indicated - probably in the 85%-90% range for Blue-leaning - Dark Blue. I think more than a few of the active Red-leaning members have left in recent years. ---
**Author:** ![supposedly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7993a0/32.png) [@supposedly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supposedly)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/8 "2018-11-14T02:14:15Z")
Thanks for all your answers. ---
**Author:** ![Krav\_Manga](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/krav_manga/32/3153_2.png) [@Krav\_Manga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krav_Manga)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/9 "2018-11-14T02:18:03Z")
There’s probably even a few members who are neither, or who are from places without democratic/Republican parties. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/10 "2018-11-14T02:44:42Z")
Given the educational level tilt of this (overweighted to post graduate experience I think) a sizable Blue, even progressive lean, as we seem to have by sense of it, would be expected. [Per Pew](http://www.people-press.org/2018/03/20/1-trends-in-party-affiliation-among-demographic-groups/) post graduate experience voters lean over 2 to 1 D-ward. ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/11 "2018-11-14T03:38:02Z")
That is a great link **Sage Rat**. The “[Political compass](https://www.politicalcompass.org/test)” that the linked thread references is still working. Would any of the posters who originally participated like to do it again? I think there would be some significant changes. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/12 "2018-11-14T04:34:05Z")
> [@steatopygia](#): > > That is a great link **Sage Rat**. The “[Political compass](https://www.politicalcompass.org/test)” that the linked thread references is still working. Would any of the posters who originally participated like to do it again? I think there would be some significant changes. Sure why not? Although looking at it, I find it interesting that they put Donald and Hillary in the same part of the compass. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/13 "2018-11-14T04:44:23Z")
> [@steatopygia](#): > > That is a great link **Sage Rat**. The “[Political compass](https://www.politicalcompass.org/test)” that the linked thread references is still working. Would any of the posters who originally participated like to do it again? I think there would be some significant changes. I’m not sure that test will directly address the D—R divide. That website [has a graphic showing](https://www.politicalcompass.org/uselection2016) both Trump and Clinton in the Right-Right quadrant.(\*) Gary Johnson is closer to Clinton than he is to Trump on that chart. (\* - 😕 Did someone try to take the questions answering as they thought the politicians would answer? The website itself implies the opposite, that the placements were more arbitrary. :smack: ) ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/14 "2018-11-14T05:21:39Z")
My guess would be 70/30 Democrats to Republicans or possibly as low as 60/40. We’re far more liberal than that but I think you would find a lot of independents or people like me in states with closed primaries who tend to wander back and forth depending on which races are hot at the moment. If I had to call my own beliefs I would say a mixture of Libertarian and Socialist but most of the time, because of where I live, I just register Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/15 "2018-11-14T05:34:14Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I’m not sure that test will directly address the D—R divide. That website [has a graphic showing](https://www.politicalcompass.org/uselection2016) both Trump and Clinton in the Right-Right quadrant.(\*) Gary Johnson is closer to Clinton than he is to Trump on that chart. > > (\* - 😕 Did someone try to take the questions answering as they thought the politicians would answer? The website itself implies the opposite, that the placements were more arbitrary. :smack: ) Yeah, that looks a little off. The authors seem to be justifying it based on Trump’s stated positions, which as we know, mean nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/16 "2018-11-14T06:07:28Z")
This poll is 7 years old, and it covers a lot more options than Democratic v Republican: [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=602371](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=602371) In it “Democrat/Democratic” and “No party” tied at 20.8%, and the next was “Libertarian” at 16.7%. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/17 "2018-11-14T07:10:31Z")
If we’re talking actual party identity, I’d guess: 60% Democrats, 10% left leaning, but not in Democratic Party 15% GOP, 5% right leaning, but not in GOP; 10% from outside US ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/18 "2018-11-14T09:26:12Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > It’s going to be difficult to parse this out according to the rigid Dem/GOP divide, since there are many schools of thought in each. I would suggest maybe more like Blue-leaning (Democrat, progressive, liberal, etc.) compared to Red-leaning (social and fiscal Conservative, Libertarian, etc.), based on current left and right thinking. Just a thought. > > I would estimate this board is more partisan that so far indicated - probably in the 85%-90% range for Blue-leaning - Dark Blue. I think more than a few of the active Red-leaning members have left in recent years. Unless, of course, the OP is at all interested in the political persuasions of the Non-US Dopers, in which case red=left and blue=right. ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/19 "2018-11-14T09:35:23Z")
I’m from the Netherlands. Even your Democratic party is far right by our standards. Which makes me a radical lefty, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484/20 "2018-11-14T10:03:57Z")
> [@MostlyClueless](#): > > I’m from the Netherlands. Even your Democratic party is far right by our standards. Which makes me a radical lefty, I guess. The left wing US Democrats, and the right wing Canadian Conservatives are pretty much on the same page. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-meant-to-be-a-political-topic-percentage-of-democrats-republicans-on-sdmb/824484.md?page=2)