Conservatives Outnumber Liberals 2-1: Survey

(Newsroom America) -- A new Gallup survey found that self-described conservatives outnumber self-described liberals 42 percent to 21 percent respectively, while 37 percent labeled themselves as moderate politically.

The poll, which was published Monday, found a slight increase in the number of Americans who identified themselves as conservatives since March 2008, the last time Gallup surveyed Americans on their political leanings.

However, the survey found, the Democratic Party has grown more liberal and less white overall since 2008, with 37 percent of Democrats now identifying themselves as politically liberal, up 2 points from 35 percent three years ago.

"As a group, Democrats are more likely than average to be women and nonwhite, less likely to be religious or married, much less likely to be conservative, and much more likely to be liberal than the U.S. population as a whole," Gallup said in an analysis of its data.

The survey also found:

* The racial and ethnic composition of the Democratic Party is changing, as more black and Hispanics identifying themselves as Democrats rose by 3 percent while whites who identified with the party fell by 3 percent;

* Democrats remain less likely to attend church services weekly and more likely to seldom or never attend church than the national average;

* There has been little change among Democrats along age and gender lines.

Republicans, meanwhile, are similar in composition demographically and ideologically now compared with 2008, Gallup said.

"As a group, Republicans continue to be more likely than average to be male, white, married, and religious, and to describe their political views as 'conservative,'" said the survey.

© 2011 Newsroom America.

Contact Jon E. Dougherty

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