For the third straight year Gallup finds conservative ideology to be the largest group in the U.S. with 40 percent of Americans self identifying as having conservative views. 35 percent of Americans identify as moderate and only 21 percent self identify as liberals.Gallup also finds that among Democrats, 29 percent consider themselves liberal and only 10 percent say they are "very" liberal". Total: 39 percent of Democrats list themselves as liberal.
51 percent of Republicans consider themselves to be conservative and 20 percent identify as "very" conservative. Total: 71 percent of Republicans list themselves as conservative.
The breakdown for Independents is what should concern Democrats in this election cycle.
Independents -- who make up the largest political group in the country -- have been steadier ideologically than either major party group over the last decade. However, since 2008, the proportion describing themselves as moderate has declined slightly, from 46% to 41%, and the proportion who are conservative has increased slightly, from 30% to 35%.
Currently, the largest segment of independents describe their views as moderate, while significantly more identify as conservative than as liberal, 35% vs. 20%.
Recently a CNN Opinion Research poll found that 50 percent of Americans disapproved of the way Barack Obama has handled his job as president. 38 percent of those that disapprove listed the reason as his being "too liberal" and only 9 percent said he wasn't "liberal enough."
Icing on the cake for Republicans is the recent US News and World Report article that states by 2-to-1 Americans fear an Obama reelection:
As we enter the presidential election year of 2012, what potential news event do you fear the most?
President Obama wins reelection 33%
Taxes will increase 31%
Iran will get a nuclear weapon 16%
Obama will lose reelection 16%
North Korea will attack South Korea 4%
All together: A five percent decrease in moderates coupled with a five percent increase in conservatives added together with another recent Gallup poll showing that Barack Obama is seen as the furthest away from American's ideological views than any of the GOP candidates, and Americans listing an Obama reelection as what they fear most, translates into a huge Democratic headache during this presidential election cycle.
(Changes were made to this post)