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% [43%] {40%} [43%] {42%} (44%) [43%] {44%} [44%] (43%)
• Moderate 37% [36%] {41%} [40%] {41%} (40%) [37%] {40%} [39%] (38%)
• Liberal 18% [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 35% [36%] {36%} [34%] {35%} (35%) [36%] {40%} [37%] (36%)
• Moderate 27% [30%] {32%} [32%] {30%} (30%) [29%] {26%} [30%] (31%)
• Liberal 35% [31%] {30%} [30%] {31%} (31%) [32%] {31%} [30%] (29%)

Combined Results

• Fiscal and Social Conservative 27% [28%] {26%} [27%] {27%} (29%)
• Fiscal and Social Liberal 15% [12%] {10%} [11%] {11%}

Note: Fifty-eight percent (58%) are some other combination.

National survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted August 26-27, 2012. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points.  Results from the poll conducted July 27-28, 2012 are in parentheses. 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-three percent (73%) of Republicans say they are conservative when it comes to fiscal issues and 59% are conservative about social issues. Among Democrats, 46% describe themselves as fiscally moderate, while 57% are socially liberal. Voters not affiliated with either party are mostly moderate to conservative on fiscal issues but almost evenly divided in the social area.