How do you rate yourself Politcally

[xultar]

I wanted to see where DUers stand on the Liberalism.
So rate yourself...

(Borrowed Idea for Poll)

[Walt Starr]

1. Your poll is one dimensional

I'm a Liberal Libertarian.

By contrast, Bush is a Conservative Authoritarian.

[xultar]

2. I know, I wanted to keep it simple 2 just get the bell curve n/t

[Cheswick2.0]

3. way liberal wouldn't vote green if you paid me a thoudand bucks

kind of shoots down your line of thinking on the left right line continuum.

I reject the false idea that Nader was farther left than Gore.

[bryant69]

5. It also doesn't take into account shifts in opinion

Before the election, I was for nader and voted for him. But since then, his actions since the election, and an analysis of exactly how different republicans and democrats are (of course Green conventional "wisdom" was and probably still is that there is no difference between Republicans and Democrats). In other words, while I voted Green, I'm not most likely to supporg Kerry or Clark, two of the more centrist Democratic candidates. Because I've changed a bit.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[diamondsoul]

29. Eh, wot?? Clark isn't Centrist-

He's pretty darned Liberal, imo. So is Kerry.

Does that suggest the definitions are too subjective to be qualified by a poll like this?? Just a thought.

[cally]

17. Exactly my opinion

I would support a green for local office, but never for Pres. at this time in history. I'm also very liberal.

[LWolf]

4. Way liberal.

Although I don't understand the "almost Green" part.

As I don't understand the animosity towards greens here at DU, a supposed bastion of progressive ideals.

I'm a registered democrat.

[LeahMira]

10. Neither do I ...

As I don't understand the animosity towards greens here at DU, a supposed bastion of progressive ideals.

And I find it a little disappointing that some folks are so provoked at the Greens for allegedly or "stealing votes from Gore" that they just can't get over it.

Republicans aren't irate at Ross Perot for "stealing votes from Bush, Sr. as far as I can tell. Matter of fact, they took notice of Perot's appeal as someone who seemed to care less about politics and niceties and had enough money to do what he darn well thought should be done in spite of what anyone else thought, and they got Bush, Jr. to fit that image.

If Democrats really want Green votes, they need to find a candidate who stands for what Greens stand for. Some of the Democratic candidates are good guys but, as it looks now, most of them are playing by the moderate, centrist kinds of scripts... and the ones who aren't are the ones that no one seems to be paying much attention to these days. That's a shame.

[LWolf]

36. It is a shame.

They keep telling me, with regret, that "America isn't ready for a truly progressive agenda yet." It saddens me.

[rucky]

6. I get your drift...

Guess that makes me a pretty darn liberal guy.

[Terwilliger]

7. Progressive/Centrist Liberal is a joke

also, Greens aren't WAY left...they're actually closer to Progressive than mainstream Democrats

[Zynx]

8. Moderate Liberal.

I'm not a rabid environmentalist. I believe in free-markets with a good amount of regulation. I support a progressive income tax and would oppose violently a national sales tax or a flat tax. I am for cutting the defense budget. I am only a moderate supporter of a woman's right to choose. I support gun rights and fishing rights. I believe that the more personal freedom the better and therefore oppose the Patriot Act and other things like it that try to curtail our freedom. I would similarly oppose left-wing encroachments on civil liberties in the form of an authoritarian socialist or communist state. I could go on and on, but I'm sure you get the picture.

[1songbird]

9. Moderate liberal

[Mel]

11. what about Independent

like Bernie Sanders?

[w4rma]

12. Way liberal, but I don't consider the Green Party to be liberal. (n/t)

[Terwilliger]

13. what are they, then

They employ every liberal position on their platform...what makes them not liberal?

[BootinUp]

16. Good question

Went to their website to see if I had misread them. Nope...about as far left as you can be.

[Terwilliger]

19. Really? Capitalists are "as far left as you can be"?

Don't tell the socialists they're conservative.

[BootinUp]

20. someones confused

maybe its me, but I do generally think of liberal policies to be on the left side of the spectrum.

Green party policies are anethema to free markets. Hence far to the left in my book.

edited: I am speaking of the range of American mainstream politics.

[Terwilliger]

33. you're confused?

did you read the Green platform? What makes it far left? Because it's an actual liberal platform?

[BootinUp]

35. Many

of the Green positions don't get serious consideration in U.S. politics today. That puts them out of the middle for sure. Perhaps I chose my words poorly though. I am still sorta new to the underground and the discussion here is quite different than I am used to.

[quaker bill]

22. Actually that is an interesting point.

Socialism, to the actual extent implemented in real world as a form of government has had a worse than average record as the custodian of human rights and the environment. Stalin was most assuredly a socialist, but hardly a liberal.

Reading the books and journals on socialist theory, you would expect the result to be different than what has actually been observed.

On the other hand, unfettered capitalism has had it's share of atrocities as well. Unfettered corporatist capitalism seems only to exaggerate the tendency toward abuse of the workers.

Reading the books and journals on capitalist free market theory, you would expect the result to be different than what has actually been observed.

Perhaps in an E.F. Shumaker "Small is Beautiful" scaled economy, a free market system would be more liberal. That sort of concept meshes so well with Kirpatrick Sales "Bioregionalism" concept of appropriate sized government that was, at one time, a founding precept of the Green movement

[rman]

24. Stalin was a dictator

who came to power during communism. If he was a socialist he didn't practice it very well.
Hitler came to power during a democracy. And so did Bush.

[Terwilliger]

31. Stalin was an authoritarian murderer who simply wanted power

and power for the very few in Moscow who had anything to begin with. Stalin was not a socialist, leftist, or otherwise.

[quaker bill]

23. Actually that is an interesting point.

Socialism, to the actual extent implemented in real world as a form of government has had a worse than average record as the custodian of human rights and the environment. Stalin was most assuredly a socialist, but hardly a liberal.

Reading the books and journals on socialist theory, you would expect the result to be different than what has actually been observed.

On the other hand, unfettered capitalism has had it's share of atrocities as well. Unfettered corporatist capitalism seems only to exaggerate the tendency toward abuse of the workers.

Reading the books and journals on capitalist free market theory, you would expect the result to be different than what has actually been observed.

Perhaps in an E.F. Shumaker "Small is Beautiful" scaled economy, a free market system would be more liberal. That sort of concept meshes so well with Kirpatrick Sales "Bioregionalism" concept of appropriate sized government that was, at one time, a founding precept of the Green movement

[onebigbadwulf]

26. I think you're thinking of libertarians

who are right-wing corporation lovers

[slackmaster]

14. None of the above

Civil libertarian, fiscal conservative who recognizes that some services are best provided by government - National defense, environmental regulation, education, justice, police and fire protection, and hopefully some day we'll have a decent health care system.

I consider myself a classical liberal. The term liberal has been co-opted by people who are far to the left of me on most issues. I believe the term progressive means one who seeks to improve the quality of life for everyone, not necessarily through bigger government and more meddling in peoples' choices.

[MrPrax]

15. So many shades of Liberal...

What colour is your Political Parachute?

[LeftofU]

18. Other....

I'm a leftist but the greens don't really define me. I'm more of a socialist than i'll admit.

[quaker bill]

21. More liberal than most Greens

But voted for Gore and never even considered Nader. Support for Greens / Nader is a very poor metric of how liberal a person is.

Greens have no corner on the liberal marketplace. I was liberal before there were Greens in this country. In fact, after reading about them in Germany, I had a role in organizing them locally and was a speaker at their first statewide gathering.

I just never considered Nader a serious candidate, and frankly, did not desire to have him as President.

To my mind it is antithetical to the bioregionalist ideal that was a founding principle of the Green movement to even run a national candidate.

[Kitsune]

25. I'm about two miles to the left of this poll *nt*

[onebigbadwulf]

27. Me too

Where's socialist anti-religious ultra-progressive uber-social bleeding heart?

[psychopomp]

28. I'm chaotic neutral

and still a smartass, I guess.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

30. I am extremly conservative

I want to conserve our civil liberties, our environment, our natural resources, and our right to assemble. I want to conserve our right to elect our representatives and hold them accountable. I want to conserve the U.S. as a nation of laws where corporate cirminals are punished as severly as their crimes warrant.
I could go on and on but you get the point.

[CheshireCat]

32. You should change the 1st category to

something that makes more sense - maybe "Far Left - Socialist or almost socialist"

As it is, I do fit in any category and I know many other DUer's who would not fit. You make it sound as if "Green" is as far left as anyone would dare go. That is absurd!

[_NorCal_D_]

34. Moderate with strong liberal tendencies.

B-) :bounce:

[burr]

37. very liberal...

I had the temptation to vote for Nader, but since he wasn't on the ballot I stuck with Gore.

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

38. Left-leaning moderate,

voted for Gore (but considered voting for Nader due to Lieberman being on the ticket.)