The GOP right-wingers have put forth the idea that they are this country's conservative party, while the Democrats are the party of liberals. They are half right. As the chart above shows, about 60% of Republicans want a right-wing president (a clear majority). But the opposite is not true of Democrats. Nearly half of Democrats (48%) say they want a moderate to be president, while only 30% (less than a third) would prefer a president from the left.
This just verifies what I have been saying for quite a while now -- that there is no major party of the left in this country. We have a right-wing party (Republicans) and a centrist party (Democrats). The Democrats do have two good progressives running for their nomination this year -- but the perception of them is very different. Hillary Clinton is perceived as the more moderate candidate by most, while Bernie Sanders is perceived as being on the far left (a perception enhanced by his claim to be a socialist). This, more than anything else, is why Sanders will not be the Democratic nominee.
These charts were made from a new Gallup Poll -- done between December 2nd and 6th of a random national sample of 366 Republicans and 363 Democrats, with the margin of error for both parties being 7 points.
