How Liberal Are The Democratic Delegates?
On most issues, very liberal. The delegates think of themselves — and Mr. Kerry, for that matter — as politically moderate. But on divisive social issues like abortion, the death penalty and gay marriage, the delegates are not only much more liberal than voters in general but substantially more liberal than typical Democratic voters. At every Democratic convention, the delegates hold more liberal positions than rank-and-file Democrats, just as Republican delegates are always more conservative than their voters. That is the nature of political activists. On many issues, though, the Democratic delegates are more or less in harmony with the general public. On the environment, for instance, 62 percent of the delegates and 52 percent of all voters say the government must protect the environment even at the cost of lost jobs. And 67 percent of delegates and 69 percent of all voters maintain that “trade restrictions are necessary to protect domestic industries.” (I’ll have a long post, or may
