From Jim Geraghty's Morning Jolt, some statistics from a recent Esquire survey of the political "center," which is looking pretty conservative. Affirmative action: 57% oppose it in hiring decisions and college admissions; 19% support it. Amnesty: 54% oppose a path to citizenship for those who have come to the country illegally; 32% support it. Voter fraud: 75% support requiring photo ID to cast a vote; 15% oppose. Abortion on demand: 38% support it, but only in the first trimester; 29% would limit it to cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother; 12% support abortion on demand through all 40 weeks. Personal accountability: 78% said the bigger problem for the United States is people aren't accountable for their decisions and actions; 22% said that the bigger problem was "people aren't compassionate toward one another." Federal budget: 77% support a Constitutional amendment requiring the federal government to balance its budget every year; 11% oppose.
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On a rather sobering note, at the moment, the superseding narrative for the Center is essentially this: holding on to what they've got. "One of the dramatic things that we have noticed is that people in the middle are no longer necessarily looking forward," says Franklin. "At the moment, they're fearing that they will slip backward instead of being forward-looking and hopeful that they'll get ahead."
ReplyDeleteWell, that's an essentially conservative proposition. The focus is on conserving something -- property and position.
It's good news, I guess, in that it could have gone the other way: toward a principle of confiscation, rather than conservation.
In similar news, Congress continues to achieve new records in voter satisfaction.
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