Are Moderates Closet Liberals or Conservatives?

[TomCADem]

Also, are independents closet Democrats or closet Republicans?

The reason I ask this is that on this board there are a lot of folks who disparage moderates or independents as right wingers or conservatives in denial. However, if this is the case, then things look bleak for the left in the future.

Only 24% of people identify themselves as liberal, while 37% call themselves moderate, and 36% call themselves conservative. However, on the bright side, 32% of people identify themselves as Democrats, while only 25% identify themselves as Republicans, but a whopping 37% identify themselves as independents.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postpoll_080911.html

So, who are these independents/moderates?

Edit to add: Even though many folks dismiss these polls as flawed because they rely on self-assessment, I think it is important to show how people view themselves, and that people are often pretty accurate about where they stand on the political spectrum and who they tend to vote for.

[ZombieHorde]

1. Broad brushing is fallacious, but it is also fun, so I am going to do it anyway.

I think most moderates simply don't pay attention to politics.

[TroglodyteScholar]

8. +1 n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. I think the term "moderate" is just about meaningless.

It can include a huge range of ideologies. I think a lot of people, if asked, would identify themselves as "moderate" because it's a broad term that doesn't really pigeonhole them while still suggesting that they don't identify with any "extreme" positions -- for the most part people don't like to be identified or regarded as "extreme" or "radical." While I certainly consider myself to be liberal/progressive, I don't think of myself as holding extreme ideas. So does that make me a moderate? If I wrote on DU that I was a moderate I'd get my ass kicked. That's because it's often used as a pejorative term, suggesting, for example, that a "moderate" Democrat is a sellout, a closet Republican, a corporatist. The GOPers tend to hold their "moderates" in similar low esteem. But in the larger world, outside that of partisan politics, I'm guessing that a whole lot of people with a wide range of views would call themselves moderate. That's why the term is pretty useless as a means to define where somebody stands.

[Adsos Letter]

3. This.

[Kennah]

4. I suspect there are some from both camps in the land of Moderation.

There certainly are different flavors and shades of distinction in both liberal and conservative camps, as well as Democratic and Republican camps.

I've heard it said that the middle of the road is full of dead animals and yellow stripes, and to some extent that is true.

Some who claim the title of Moderate are just using it as a shield because they want to speak their minds yet don't want to get challenged on anything. "Heh, I'm a Moderate." It's a "leave me alone since I said what I wanted to say" cop out.

Toss them in a crucible and heat things up, and I suspect they come out left of center or right of center, maybe even more so. There is a guy on Examiner who used to identify himself as a <local city> Independent Examiner. I liked him, and a few times I threw things at him basically to say, "Here's bait for you to call me a Commie, Pinko, Leftist." Turned out he was in agreement with me on the things I threw at him, and in time I concluded he was much more than a little left of center. He now has a very non-partisan Examiner title, and I still like him.

I'm probably broad brushing, but it's been my experience that those who label themselves a Moderate are right of center, while those who label themselves an Independent are left of center.

[GodlessBiker]

5. They're like bisexuals...they pick and choose from both sides.

Which pisses some people off.

[TexasProgresive]

6. I don't know what "moderates" are. What is needed is a gestalt.

The extreme polarization of the people of the United States is diminishing us all. It is not a matter of who is right and who is wrong but that in opposition we are less. If we could come to some consensus then we could be truly great. As it is we are in danger of Balkanization and what is really sad is that is happening on the left. If we keep sniping at one another we will become irrelevant leaving the right victors by default.

[SoCalDem]

7. Many people are closet "I don;t even know who my congressperson is", and

I don't care.... But I do know who got voted off the island and what the box office numbers for last week's movies are...

[Douglas Carpenter]

9. the truth is most people have only a limited interest in politics. I would guess that

many of them would fit into the category of moderates or independents. Most people have lives and politics is not the most important thing to them. They have other things occupying their attention. Unless one has a particular interest in politics, most people probably are ideologically undefinable and hold a mixture of liberal and conservative, left-wing and right-wing beliefs. Quite typically one will find those who either have left-wing economic beliefs but are somewhat socially conservative. Or we will find some who are the opposite who may be quite liberal on issues like gay marriage or abortion but lean toward being conservative on economic issues.

And really there is no intrinsic reason why someone who agrees with single-payer universal health care would have liberal beliefs about abortion or gay marriage. Nor is there any intrinsic reason why someone who is pro-choice and supports gay marriage would also support single payer universal health care.

I would guess that those who are consistently liberal or left-wing or those who are consistently conservative or right-wing would tend to be people who have an exceptional interest in politics and therefore have taken sides with one political faction or another. Perhaps the dynamics are ultimately not that different than how those who have a particularly strong interest in say basketball would tend to support one particular team.

The problem with building a progressive coalition that is capable of forming a majority is to find a majority who either hold progressive beliefs on social issues and economic or to make such a strong appeal to either people's social liberalism or their economic progressivism that they will back a political faction even if they are uncomfortable with some of their positions.

[drpepper67]

10. Some people may be a fiscal conservative but socially liberal.

They want small government and are for reproductive rights for example.

Which party would someone like that identify with? The answer, more and more is neither.

To be "in the party" you have to toe the party line on every issue. Even here if you say the wrong thing, you get jumped on.

Dissent and discussion within either party isn't allowed.

So some people are "moderates".