Left and Right: 1 to 1.6

Gallup has two very interesting polls out that seem to pinpoint two specific ways of thinking in the US.

One poll reveals that 36% of Americans have a “positive image” of the word “socialism” while 58% have a negative one.  (6% had apparently never heard either term enough to form an impression of them.)

A second poll says that 37% of Americans are worried that the government won’t regulate businesses strongly enough, but 57% are worried that government regulations will be too strong.  (Again, 6% were obviously busy trying to figure out the difference between their asses and various holes in the ground, and didn’t hear the question.)

Given that these two separate surveys pulled in such similar numbers for such similar questions, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to suggest that just over one-third of the country has a basic left-leaning outlook as the basis of their political ideologies, and, conversely, just over half leans to the right.  (And, of course, 6% of Americans are apparently too stoned at any given time to tell the difference between a newspaper and a microwave burrito.)

If these numbers do accurately represent the basic ideological divide in the US, it would go a long way to explain why Democrats always seem to be pushing towards the right, and talking about the “center” and “compromise,” while Republicans have taken to consolidating their message and punishing dissent within their ranks.  If just over half of Americans tend towards the right, it is up to the Democrats to lure potential voters away from the Republicans.  Likewise, it’s up to Republicans to hold their lines.