Poll Watch: Rasmussen (R) Survey on Political Ideology

Rasmussen (R) Poll on Political Ideology

Many people have different ideological perspectives on fiscal issues and social issues. When it comes to fiscal issues such as taxes, government spending and business regulation, are you politically conservative, moderate or liberal?

• Conservative 43% {40%} [43%] {42%} (44%) [43%] {44%} [44%] (43%)
• Moderate 36% {41%} [40%] {41%} (40%) [37%] {40%} [39%] (38%)
• Liberal 14% {13%} [13%] {13%} (11%) [14%] {12%} [14%] (13%)

When it comes to social issues like abortion, public prayer, and Church-state topics, are you politically conservative, moderate or liberal?

• Conservative 36% {36%} [34%] {35%} (35%) [36%] {40%} [37%] (36%)
• Moderate 30% {32%} [32%] {30%} (30%) [29%] {26%} [30%] (31%)
• Liberal 31% {30%} [30%] {31%} (31%) [32%] {31%} [30%] (29%)

Combined Results

• Fiscal and Social Conservative 28% {26%} [27%] {27%} (29%)
• Fiscal and Social Moderate 16%
• Fiscal Moderate and Social Liberal 13%
• Fiscal and Social Liberal 12% {10%} [11%] {11%}
• Fiscal Conservative and Social Moderate 10%
• Fiscal Moderate and Social Conservative 6%
• Fiscal Conservative and Social Liberal 4%

National survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted July 27-28, 2012. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points.  Results from the poll conducted June 27-28, 2012 are in curly brackets. Results from the poll conducted April 22-23, 2012 are in square brackets. Results from the poll conducted October 16-17, 2011 are in curly brackets.  Results from the poll conducted September 14-15, 2011 are in parentheses. Results from the poll conducted August 13-14, 2011 are in square brackets.  Results from the poll conducted July 10-11, 2011 are in curly brackets.  Results from the poll conducted June 4-5, 2011 are in square brackets.  Results from the poll conducted May 5-6, 2011 are in parentheses.

Inside the numbers:

Seventy-nine percent (79%) of Republicans say they’re conservative on fiscal issues, while 49% of Democrats and 42% voters not affiliated with either political party are fiscal moderates.

On social issues, 64% of GOP voters classify themselves as conservative, while 53% of Democrats are liberal in this area. Unaffiliated voters are more narrowly divided on social issues.

Most Tea Party members are both fiscal and social conservatives. Voters who are in a labor union tend to be moderate in both areas.