In the final kick to the shins of Democrats, it turns out that the percentage of liberals in America reached a record high in 2016 and they still lost the presidency, according to a new analysis of President-elect Trump’s victory.
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Longtime GOP pollster and adviser David Winston found that of all the ideological changes since Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election, the growth of liberals stand out.
The Winston Group.
Consider: In 1984, 17 percent of Americans described their view as liberal. Today it’s 26 percent. The biggest surge came since President Obama was elected, when it was 22 percent.
Among Democrats since Obama’s election, the percentage of liberals has hit a stunning new high. In a memo, Winston wrote: “In this election, they are now significantly more liberal (50 percent) than moderate (39 percent) — a trend that reinforces why House Democrats re-elected Nancy Pelosi as their leader.”
So why did Hillary Clinton lose to Trump? Winston said the country is still center-right to moderate and that the economy was the top issue, prompting some Democrats in depressed areas to choose Trump and “rock the boat.”
If Trump can move the economic needle, he added, “Republicans are the center-right party in a center-right country, so the opportunity to achieve a sustainable majority coalition is there.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
