Reagan-revolutionen i högsta grad levande

När Obama valdes 2008 spekulerade somliga i att detta skulle kunna innebära en 40-årig liberal era som satte punkt för den konservativa revolution som implementerades av Ronald Reagan på 1980-talet. Inget indikerar dock att så kommer att bli fallet, tvärtom så tyder det mesta på att Reagan-revolutionen fortfarande i allra högsta grad är levande i USA.

En ny Gallup-undersökning visar att konservativa tredje året i rad är fler än de moderata (och betydligt fler än liberalerna):

Political ideology in the U.S. held steady in 2011, with 40% of Americans continuing to describe their views as conservative, 35% as moderate, and 21% as liberal. This marks the third straight year that conservatives have outnumbered moderates, after more than a decade in which moderates mainly tied or outnumbered conservatives.

… Sizable segments of Americans identify with each of the three major ideological groups on the U.S. political spectrum; however, in recent years, conservatives have become the single largest group, consistently outnumbering moderates since 2009 and outnumbering liberals by 2-to-1.

Nile Gardiner kommenterar här siffrorna i The Guardian och skriver:

What explains the continuing strength of conservatism in America, and the resurgence in conservative support since Barack Obama took office? There can be no doubt that the Obama administration’s big government agenda has given conservatism a significant boost in the past three years...

...European-style excessive government spending and interference in the economy doesn’t cut it in the United States, and the growing power of conservatism and the stagnant position of liberalism is a reflection of that...

Han avslutar lite senare:

Conservatism is thriving in America today because liberty, freedom and individual responsibility are at the heart of its ideology, one that rejects the foolish notion that government knows best. And its strength owes a great debt to the conviction and ideals of Ronald Reagan, who always believed that America’s best days are ahead of her, and for whom the notion of decline was unacceptable. As the Gipper famously put it, in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in 1988:

Those who underestimate the conservative movement are the same people who always underestimate the American people.

Källor: The Telegraph

Se även tidigare inlägg:

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