What is America’s political center? People on the far right and far left are easy to point out however there seems to be more difficulty in indentifying what is America’s center politicaly. Well using poll data I hope to layout what Americas political middle might be. Now for this very antidotal blog post I will be using one source of polling data, Gallup poll numbers. Now some may same, by choosing one set of poll numbers you are not truly finding the center you are only find the center of Gallup Poll numbers, which you would be correct in saying. However I am not publishing these finding for scientific research or claiming victory to be the first to find the center of political America, plus different polling sources conduct business in different ways, tallies group of individuals differently, it just brings far too many variables in the equation than I am willing to deal with. So with that caveat out of the way… let’s go.
Abortion: Well, this should be quick and easy...yeah right! Through reading a very thorough break down of poll numbers it seems a majority of Americans believe that abortion should be legal but only in a few circumstances most of which pertain to medical issues while such issues as lifestyle choices and elective decisions are not generally supported.
Average rate of support for legal abortion across multiple survey organizations since 1996. | Rate |
Life of the woman | 84% |
Physical health of woman | 83% |
Rape or incest | 79% |
Mental health of the woman | 64% |
Baby would be mental impaired | 53% |
Baby would be physically impaired | 51% |
Would force teenager to drop out of school | 42% |
Woman/family can’t afford the baby | 39% |
Woman/family don’t want anymore children | 39% |
Couple does not want to marry | 35% |
Fertility selection (when fertility process creates multiple embryos) | 29% |
Would interfere with woman’s career | 25% |
While the debate over abortion has center around two main camps “Pro-Life” and “Pro-Choice” the polling data actually shows three distinct groups of people. The three groups break down as follows, 26% of Americans believe abortions should be LEGAL in all cases, 56% of Americans say abortion should be LEGAL ONLY FOR CERTAIN CASES, and 17% of Americans believe abortions should NEVER BE LEGAL. If you would like to see other break downs in support or disapproval feel free to check out http://www.gallup.com/poll/9904/Public-Opinion-About-Abortion-InDepth-Review.aspx#1 All kinds of other breakdown are available. AMERICA’S MIDDLE ON ABORTION: Legal but only for a few limited circumstances
Moving along alphabetically….
Budget & Spending: No hot issue here either…whew! Recent Gallup polling shows America divided on whose budget they support but maybe an edge on how to deal with the deficit. Let’s start with something America seems to be getting closer to agreeing on. How to deal with the deficit? When given five choices on how to deal with the deficit America seems to be gathering behind spending cuts.
How would YOU want to cut the deficit? | Percent |
Only with spending cuts | 20% |
Mostly with spending cuts | 28% |
Equally with spending cut/tax increases | 37% |
Most tax increases | 9% |
Only tax increases | 2% |
So with 85% of Americans supporting some form of spending cuts you would think it would be easy to get things done, however politicians have different priorities and what programs should be cut and what should be kept. But what about the overall budget? (R) Paul Ryan has a plan and so does (D) President Obama each with its own financial theories on which will get the economy back on track with that America seems to be completely split. Recent Gallup polling shows a dead heat between the two budget proposal with a significant number left undecided.
| Republican/Paul Ryan Plan | Democratic/President Obama Plan | No Opinion |
National Adults | 43% | 44% | 14% |
With numbers this tight you can bet that a difficult road lies ahead and aggressive campaigning will no doubt be in all of our futures.
AMERICA’S MIDDLE ON THE BUDGET AND SPENDING: Cut spending to balance our budget but no consensus can be met on which economic plan America would support more.
After seeing some of these numbers I am beginning to understand why politicians choose to “kick the can down the road” sometimes it doesn’t pay to take a stand when you are up for reelection. However we must press on…
Civil Rights: Now post 9/11, our civil rights are not what they used to be and some would argue that forfeiting of certain civil liberties is necessary to ensure our safety but where would “middle America” stand on that issue? Shortly after 9/11 the Bush Administration enacted “The Patriot Act,” a sweeping and comprehensive piece of legislation that altered many aspects of America’s privacy. I will only pull out a few of the more well known practices that have been authorized by The Patriot Act but I encourage you all to read the entire link below.
Regarding Enhanced interrogation techniques do you believe the CIA should have to abide by the same Geneva Convention standards that apply to the US Military?
Abide by Geneva Convention Standards | Should be able to use more forceful techniques | Other/Depends | No Opinion |
57% | 38% | 2% | 3% |
One provision of The Patriot Act allows federal agents to secretly search a U.S. citizen’s home without informing the person of the search for an unspecified period of time. Do you approve or disapprove?
Approve | Disapprove | No Opinion |
26% | 71% | 3% |
Which comes closer to your view: The government should take all steps necessary to prevent additional acts of terrorism in the U.S. even if it means your basic civil liberties would be violated, (or) the government should take steps to prevent additional acts of terrorism but not if those steps would violate your basic civil liberties
Take steps even if civil liberties are violated | Take steps but do not violate civil liberties | No Opinion |
31% | 65% | 4% |
One other part to evaluate with this particle topic is how time has affected these numbers, while support was more evenly split in the time closely following 9/11 support of pro-civil liberties enforcement has increased and then leveled off.
MIDDLE AMERICA ON CIVIL RIGHTS: These numbers have been difficult to evaluate, when America has been attacked support for an “any means necessary” approach understandably rises and Americans are willing to forgo certain rights to prevent future attacks, however support falls over time as Americans feel more secure.
Corporations/Regulation: Big business vs. big government both have been demonized by politicians and created hardened opponents on each side. But does Middle America support one or the other? When ask whether you think it has too much power, about the right amount of power, or not enough power. This is how America responded about the following groups.
| Too Much | About right | Not enough | No Opinion |
Lobbyists | 71 | 13 | 8 | 8 |
Major Corporations | 67 | 21 | 9 | 3 |
Banks and financial institutions | 67 | 23 | 8 | 2 |
Federal government in Washington | 58 | 30 | 9 | 3 |
Government in your state | 34 | 49 | 15 | 2 |
Local government | 22 | 53 | 21 | 3 |
When asked: Would you like see major corporations have more influence, less influence, or keep their influence the same as it is now?
Totally Satisfied | Dissatisfied want more | Dissatisfied want less | Dissatisfied keep as now | No Opinion |
29% | 5% | 54% | 9% | 4% |
When asked: Do you think there is too much, too little or the right amount of government regulation of business and Industry?
Too Much | Right amount | Too little | No Opinion |
49% | 21% | 27% | 3% |
When asked: Which of the following will be the biggest threat to the country in the future – big business, big labor or big government?
Big Business | Big Labor | Big Government | No Opinion |
32% | 10% | 55% | 3% |
MIDDLE AMERICA ON CORPORATIONS/REGULATION: American wants government to govern and corporations to conduct business however America does not seem to like crossover. America does not support a lot of government regulation in the private sector or corporate influence on Capital Hill. America would like separation between CEO’s and politicians
Crime & Punishment: Most notably here is the death penalty, do you support or oppose. No charts or pretty graphs needed here. 64% of Americans support the death penalty while only 30% oppose it.
MIDDLE AMERICA ON CRIME&PUNISHMENT: Yes to the Death Penalty
Drug Policy: Unfortunately this seems to be an area where Gallup polling doesn’t have anything more recent than 2008 so I will resist go and find other polling numbers and update this post at a later time when newer polls become available. However polling numbers show growing support for legalizing marijuana in particular.
| Support legalization | Oppose legalization |
1994 | 25 | 73 |
1998 | 31 | 64 |
2002 | 34 | 64 |
2006 | 36 | 64 |
2008 | 44 | 54 |
MIDDLE AMERICA ON DRUG POLICY: Americans are slow relaxing their position on some regulation of drugs, only time will tell on this one.
Education: So does Middle America want the government involved in a kid’s education?When asked: Do you think the federal government should be more involved, less involved or keep the current level of involvement?
More involved | Keep the same | Less involved | No Opinion |
43% | 20% | 35% | 1% |
The push for government involvement in education is not likely to go away either with more support among younger Americans than older.
| 18-34 | 35-54 | 55 and older |
Federal government should be more involved | 64% | 46% | 30% |
Federal government role kept the same | 16% | 20% | 23% |
Federal government should be less involved | 20% | 32% | 45% |
MIDDLE AMERICA ON EDUCATION: A combined 63% of America wants to keep the same level of involvement or increase involvement from the government.
Energy Policy/Environment: Does middle America support “green” energy over fossil fuels? Does middle America wanting more drilling? Do American’s prioritize the environment over energy production?
When asked: Which of the following approaches to solving the nation’s energy problems do you think America should follow right now?
Emphasize the development of alternative energy such as wind and solar | 66% |
Emphasize the production of oil, gas and coil supplies | 26% |
Both equally | 6% |
Neither/Other | 1% |
No Opinion | 1% |
MIDDLE AMERICA ON ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT: Additional the number of Americans who support conservation efforts vs. expanding production of fossil fuels has evened from 64%-24% in 2007 to 48%-41%, so what do all these numbers mean. Middle America is feeling the pitch of rising oil prices and Middle America wants ALL types of fuel resources, green energy and increased production of fossil fuels. America wants cheaper fuel from either green energy or fossil fuels.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/146651/Expanding-Energy-Output-Trumps-Green-Concerns.aspx
Foreign Policy: Unfortunately I was not able to find a poll or polls that I felt would accurately rate how middle America feels about foreign policy because it is so expansive and broad a topic to try and cover.
Gun Control: This one is pretty simple; does Middle America want more gun control or less?
When asked: Do you feel the laws covering the sale of firearms should be made more strict, less strict, or remain the same.
More strict gun control | 44% |
Less strict/keep the same gun control | 54% |
Middle America on Gun Control: Even in the wake of shootings Middle America likes its guns. Americans are NOT in support of making it harder to acquire firearms.
Health Care: You can’t discuss health care now without The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Aka Obamacare) coming up, so that is where our focus will be. Does Middle America oppose or support Obamacare? Does Middle America believe it will help or hurt our health care system? When asked: A year ago, Congress passed a law that restructures the nations healthcare system. All in all, do you it was a good thing or a bad thing that Congress passed this law?
Good thing | Bad thing | No Opinion |
46% | 44% | 10% |
When asked: Do you think the healthcare reform bill will improve, not change, or worsen medical care in the US?
Improve | Not change | Worsen | No Opinion |
39% | 12% | 44% | 5% |
When asked: Do you think the healthcare reform bill will improve, not change, or worsen your own medical care?
Improve | Not change | Worsen | No Opinion |
25% | 31% | 39% | 6% |
MIDDLE AMERICA ON HEALTH CARE: Middle America is divided on Obamacare, some support and some appose, however with 56% of America believing it will either not change or actually worsen health care in the US; and 70% believing it will either not change or worsen their own medical care, Middle America is not ready to accept that Obamacare will improve their experiences when ill.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/146729/One-Year-Later-Americans-Split-Healthcare-Law.aspx
Middle America Part I Conclusion: So what does all this boil down to? Middle America isn’t apposed to abortion in a few limited circumstances, wants to cut government spending, is willing to give up a few civil rights for a short time in the name of safety from terrorism, is not a fan of big government or big business, supports the death penalty, is softening on legalization of marijuana, wants federal support in schools, takes an “all hands on deck” approach to energy sources, doesn’t want it to be harder to get a gun than it already is, and doesn’t believe that Obamacare will help create a better healthcare system.
Is "Middle America" where you thought it was…more conservative or liberal?
Where are you in relation to "Middle America"?
