It's my phrase. I coined it. If you see it used anywhere else on the Net, then it was stolen from me without attribution. "Leftist 20 percenter." And while it may be my original phrase, there's (truth be told) really nothing overly original or novel about it. It merely reflects an indisputable truth.As discussed previously (and more than once) in this space, the polling data of recent years has been consistent on this point time and time again: The American far left -- the people who call themselves "liberals" and/or "progressives" (terms I rarely use since they want me to use them) -- only make up about 20% of the American population (low 20's at most). Yet they are the little minority that controls the democrat party and (quite frightfully) completely controlled the federal government in 2009 and most of 2010. Never again, I can only pray (and do).
Then you have the other 80 percent of us -- and the reason why this has always been and remains a center-right country (even if the leftist 20 percenters will use any means to try to change that). First you have those Americans who consider themselves to be "conservative" -- consistently polling at about 35% of the population, and sometimes slightly higher or slightly lower. People from that ilk control the republic partisan party.
The remaining 35-40%? Those would be us Independents plus people who consider themselves non liberal/progressive democrats and non-conservative republic partisans. This group is not really represented in any meaningful fashion by either of our two awful, corrupt and destructive political parties known as the democrat party and republic partisan party.
And with that little lesson in America's Makeup 101 now behind us, I get to the topic of the new Rasmussen poll that finds that only 24% of American registered voters "say their political views are about the same as the president's." No great revelation there. Obama is a devoted leftist 20 percenter and he consistently acts like one. In my opinion, he's arguably been a fine president for his 20%, but as for the other 80%, he's been one of the two (along with W) worst and most destructive presidents of my lifetime.
The other interesting thing I saw from the new Rasmussen numbers is a small possible erosion of the consistent 35% that calls itself conservative -- although I'm wary to necessarily claim erosion merely on the face of the new data. Rasmussen finds that only 24% of registered voters feel they hold the same ideological views as the average republican (republic partisan) member of Congress.
While I'd love nothing better to claim this number means that less than 35% of the country now considers itself to be totem pole-thinking followers of a conservative ideology, I'm not going to make that claim as of yet because the poll didn't ask that specific question and (moreover) there could be something else at play here: In this age of the tea party and almost unprecedented levels of conservative grassroots efforts, there are a ton of far right-wingers out there who are disillusioned with the republic partisan party because they actually think it's not far enough to the right.
I have a strong suspicion that a lot of those types of people are responsible for a poll result saying that only 24% of Americans hold the same views as republic partisan members of Congress while consistent polling data has found about 35% of Americans purport to blindly follow the ideology of being a "conservative."
Regardless of any of that, there remains little to debate when it comes to our (non) friends whom I call the leftist 20 percenters. They still comprise the same tiny (yet highly powerful and dangerous) group that they long have been. I only ask those around me to realize them for whom they are and always (always) keep a close eye on them. The America they want is the thing of nightmares when it comes to the vast majority of the country.
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