Gallup released a poll showing the states with the highest concentration of “conservative” and “liberal” Americans. Surprisingly enough, Tennessee did not crack the top 10, though the South was represented many conservative states.
The Top 10 Conservative States
The stark contrast to this would be percentage of self identifying liberals.
The Top 10 Liberal States
The percentages of those identifying as conservative dwarfs the liberals. The other point to make here, is that these liberal numbers are in states with larger population centers than those with conservatives. This accounts for the more evenly split numbers nationwide.
Gallup also provides us with their map of the entire United States and it tells an intriguing story:
Liberals v. Conservatives in the US
The thing to take away from this that America, by and large, fits the Karl Rove description of being “center-right.” This actually explains the shift towards President Obama and the Democrats in the election. Republicans, on domestic issues, acted like Democrats when it came to spending.
The spending figures under the President Bush led Republicans is astounding. When the economy tanked, the public mood shifted towards the opposition party. Change became a change on domestic spending habits. This has now come to light with the Tea Party movement. Prior to this movement, this critique came from Democrats railing against defense spending on the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Democrat response to their power has been to take the public response as change on social issues. The only major economic response has been the economic stimulus bill. Only now, a year later, has the focus shifted to talk of spending changes and jobs.
President Obama campaigned on tax cuts and using a scalpel on spending decisions (criticizing McCain for using a hatchet on spending decisions). Instead, spending has continued the escalating Bush tradition. Which has led to the continued anger over government spending. Conservatism is marked by a belief in smaller government. Smaller government, by necessity, requires lower spending.
Republicans and Democrats should take lessons from this poll. Reduce the centralized power in Washington D.C. and push for smaller government. If things like healthcare are important, the states can handle the situation, like Tennessee and Massachusetts (the liberal and conservative examples of state healthcare) have done.
*All poll data from Gallup. They created the maps and figures.* – Read their article for more on the comparisons on poll data and party identification.
[...] proof for this is rather simple. In 2009, Gallup measured the conservative nature of the states. A majority fell within the conservative category. A few points swing in favor of liberals and [...]