CSM: Quiz - Are You More Liberal than the President?

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/2012/0709/Are-you-more-or-less-liberal-than-President-Obama-Take-our-quiz/What-s-the-best-plan-to-reduce-our-dependency-on-foreign-oil

Interesting result for me, didn't expect it, don't have a tote bag, do miss the Clinton years (for a lot of different reasons) and didn't support Hillary.

Your results

Congratulations! You're more liberal than President Obama!

You're proudly towing the liberal line, canvas tote bag and all. You've probably been frustrated with President Obama's policies on more than one occasion, especially when he compromises with Republicans. You probably miss the Clinton years, and may have even been a Hillary supporter in '08.

Hello!! Obama is not a liberal, Neither was Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter. The United States hasn't elected a liberal to the Presidency since LBJ..

Obama is a right leaning pragmatist who's most liberal policy ( healthcare ) was architected by the conservative Heritage foundation, mirrors Mitt Romney's healthcare plan in MA, and was first proposed for the nation by Richard Nixon.

Clinton championed NAFTA, Wellfare reform, and declared in a national speech the era of big government was over.

Carter was a fundamentalist Christian from Georgia.

Why did the GOP say Obama was a socialist, or the most liberal senator in the senate? Same reason they said Kerry was the most liberal senator in the senate, cause it helps them with their base. Hello we have a self identified socialist in the senate, and Ted Kennedy was there when the GOP was making those accusations..

Obama's your main man.

You're a moderate liberal, or maybe even an Independent. You agree with most of the decisions President Obama has made while in office, and you understand that compromise is sometimes necessary.

Am I committed to this?

I was going to vote for Romney! Only b/c he is not Obama. Maybe I wont vote.

Said I'm more liberal. Huh, didn't think I was.

for the Christian Science monitor, John McCain is a liberal.

---------- Post added September-18th-2012 at 12:15 PM ----------

Hello!! Obama is not a liberal, Neither was Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter. The United States hasn't elected a liberal to the Presidency since LBJ..

Obama is a right leaning pragmatist who's most liberal policy ( healthcare ) was architected by the conservative Heritage foundation, mirrors Mitt Romney's healthcare plan in MA, and was first proposed for the nation by Richard Nixon.

Clinton championed NAFTA, Wellfare reform, and declared in a national speech the era of big government was over.

Carter was a fundamentalist Christian from Georgia.

Why did the GOP say Obama was a socialist, or the most liberal senator in the senate? Same reason they said Kerry was the most liberal senator in the senate, cause it helps them with their base. Hello we have a self identified socialist in the senate, and Ted Kennedy was there when the GOP was making those accusations..

clinton repealed Glass-Steagall which deregulated banks and allowed them to resume making crazy bets.

You're definitely a lefty!

Your politics are considered radical by many, and sometimes you even agree with communist policies. You disagree with most of President Obama's decisions, but you may not have voted for him anyway. Someone like Ralph Nader would be a better candidate for you.

Big surprise! I think the "communist policies" is telling about where this quiz originates. I do disagree with a lot of what Obama's done, because he hasn't done what he promised. However, any Republican and especially the Republican Party platform are anathema to me.

Obama's your main man.

You're a moderate liberal, or maybe even an Independent. You agree with most of the decisions President Obama has made while in office, and you understand that compromise is sometimes necessary.

Am I committed to this?

I was going to vote for Romney! Only b/c he is not Obama. Maybe I wont vote.

Liberals aren't that crazy about Obama. He is merely a competent George Bush. They might support him to keep Romney out, but they don't like the guy.

• He ended the war in Iraq on Bush's timeline.
  
• Gitmo is still open
  
• He doubled downed on the Patriot Act
  
• He advanced the war in Afghanistan
  
• He advanced the extrajudicial murders via drones, including against US citizens
  
• He gave up on the public option in healthcare before the debate began.
  
• He compromised on his stimulus package to get 2? republican votes which is why unemployment is still +8%.
  
• He continued the bush Tax cuts for the wealthy.
  

---------- Post added September-18th-2012 at 12:35 PM ----------

for the Christian Science monitor, John McCain is a liberal.

The Christian Science Monitor is a very respectable conservative paper.

Nobody has ever confused John McCain with being liberal fiscally or socially other than George Bush's smear tactics against him in 2000.

McCain is and always has been a Goldwater Republican like Ronald Reagan, rather than the Bush's who were out of the Nixon brand of republicanism like Cheney and Rumsfeld.

McCain got blasted entirely because his campaign reform bill restricted political activism on behalf of non profit churches in exchange for restricting political activism of Unions. The socially conservative churches which are very influential in the GOP, didn't like that and frankly defamed him in 2000. They also merely tolerated him in 2004.

---------- Post added September-18th-2012 at 12:15 PM ----------

Clinton repealed Glass-Steagall which deregulated banks and allowed them to resume making crazy bets.

Yes he did, and he did so with broad support from both Democrats and Republicans. He did so because the banking industry wanted it, and they give money to both parties equally.

Again Glass Steagall was "new deal" legislation passed by the Roosevelt administration in 1933. Repealing it was right leaning pragmatism. It was deregulation and was supported by industry.

I like how even a naive reader can tell that the quiz was written by a conservative, or at least someone who thinks being "liberal" is a bad thing, almost like a dirty word they don't want to be caught saying in front of their parents.

On a side note, how many people picked the "one party system" answer for the last question or that the oppositions job is soley to argue with everything the President says? I am really interested in seeing who has those points of view on the subject.

"Obama's your main guy"

Huh...wasn't expecting that. Still voting for Gary Johnson.

Seems like about the only way you're not more liberal than Obama in this survey is if you take the extreme Right's approach to everything.

There were very few options to select for folks with the same beliefs as me. for the record, to come the closest to my views, I ended up with "Obama is my main man"

I like how even a naive reader can tell that the quiz was written by a conservative, or at least someone who thinks being "liberal" is a bad thing, almost like a dirty word they don't want to be caught saying in front of their parents..

Dude, being a liberal is a bad thing. It's something Democrats are accused of. I can't remember the last time a Democratic candidate self identified as liberal, maybe LBJ? Obama certainly hasn't, nor did Kerry, Gore, or Clinton. Being Liberal is certainly a negative. It's what the GOP labels you before they run over you with the truck.

No democrat running for national office has defended that term in nearly 50 years, and the GOP has used it in every election.

Hell the Democrats experimented with the term Progressive which is a synonym for Liberal; and the GOP talking heads came out and proclaimed progressives as WORSE than liberal.

Obama's your main man.

You're a moderate liberal, or maybe even an Independent. You agree with most of the decisions President Obama has made while in office, and you understand that compromise is sometimes necessary.

Am I committed to this?

I was going to vote for Romney! Only b/c he is not Obama. Maybe I wont vote.

Perhaps that's because your perceptions of Obama are not in line with what Obama has actually done in office. It's a very common thing.

You agreed with the points I was trying to make in short hand?

Liberals aren't that crazy about Obama. He is merely a competent George Bush. They might support him to keep Romney out, but they don't like the guy.

• He ended the war in Iraq on Bush's timeline.
  
• Gitmo is still open
  
• He doubled downed on the Patriot Act
  
• He advanced the war in Afghanistan
  
• He advanced the extrajudicial murders via drones, including against US citizens
  
• He gave up on the public option in healthcare before the debate began.
  
• He compromised on his stimulus package to get 2? republican votes which is why unemployment is still +8%.
  
• He continued the bush Tax cuts for the wealthy.
  

This is the stuff I've been saying. Not sure why conservatives hate Obama as he clearly reaches across the aisle to either appease opposition or just cooperate to get things done. As you said, he's not a true liberal and Romney is not a true conservative. It's just a crazy election.

The Christian Science Monitor is a very respectable conservative paper.

Nobody has ever confused John McCain with being liberal fiscally or socially other than George Bush's smear tactics against him in 2000.

McCain is and always has been a Goldwater Republican like Ronald Reagan, rather than the Bush's who were out of the Nixon brand of republicanism like Cheney and Rumsfeld.

My point is that McCain is in the center so Far Right conservatives think he's a commie. Which he's not.

Yes he did, and he did so with broad support from both Democrats and Republicans. He did so because the banking industry wanted it, and they give money to both parties equally.

Again Glass Steagall was "new deal" legislation passed by the Roosevelt administration in 1933. Repealing it was right leaning pragmatism.It was deregulation and was supported by industry.

That's why I mentioned it?

What a shock

You probably won't be voting for Obama in November.

You're a conservative, or even a Republican. You're probably frustrated by most of Obama's policies and thinking are about voting for Romney in November.

[B]Obama's your main man.

You're a moderate liberal, or maybe even an Independent. You agree with most of the decisions President Obama has made while in office, and you understand that compromise is sometimes necessary.[/b]

ding ding!

Perhaps that's because your perceptions of Obama are not in line with what Obama has actually done in office. It's a very common thing.

Well, he hasnt really done anything, so... just kidding.

Your results

Obama's your main man.

You're a moderate liberal, or maybe even an Independent. You agree with most of the decisions President Obama has made while in office, and you understand that compromise is sometimes necessary.

Voting for Gary Johnson

Your results

Obama's your main man.

You're a moderate liberal, or maybe even an Independent. You agree with most of the decisions President Obama has made while in office, and you understand that compromise is sometimes necessary.

Yeah, not exactly. I am an independent, and I agree with Obama on about half of what he has done.

I keep trying to tell ya that most of ya'll are off the liberal deep end.

It says Obama's my main man. Not quite.

On a side note, how many people picked the "one party system" answer for the last question or that the oppositions job is soley to argue with everything the President says? I am really interested in seeing who has those points of view on the subject.

I picked one party system...never really thought about it, but the idea is interesting to me. Or the "one from each party sharing duties"...I don't know if that would work realistically, though

JMS, I've seen you say it before in regards to Obama not being a liberal and I agree with you 100% on all counts you stated. The country has been drifting right for decades. Today's Dems are more comparable to Reagan and Nixon than FDR, JFK or LBJ. The media machine is so successful at re-framing conversations and topics people actually think this guy is a socialist and it's laughable.

I picked one party system...never really thought about it, but the idea is interesting to me. Or the "one from each party sharing duties"...I don't know if that would work realistically, though

I wouldn't call a one party system a party system at all. Given the overall tone of that poll I thought it was fairly obvious that that choice was designed to represent communism.

I wouldn't call a one party system a party system at all. Given the overall tone of that poll I thought it was fairly obvious that that choice was designed to represent communism.

I took it as a bunch of people running for president without labeling themselves as any party....so people would vote on platforms, not on party affiliation.

JMS, I've seen you say it before in regards to Obama not being a liberal and I agree with you 100% on all counts you stated. The country has been drifting right for decades. Today's Dems are more comparable to Reagan and Nixon than FDR, JFK or LBJ. The media machine is so successful at re-framing conversations and topics people actually think this guy is a socialist and it's laughable.

While I generally agree, I'm not sure how far I'd push the idea that Obama's ideology is actually right-leaning based on his record. I suspect that a combination of social and political circumstance coupled with poor political strategy makes him look worse than he is to some degree. In my largely uninformed opinion, I'd have to say that Obama's biggest failing is probably that he's not hard-headed and stubborn enough to push his agenda without letting it get torn to shreds by bad compromises along the way.

I took it as a bunch of people running for president without labeling themselves as any party....so people would vote on platforms, not on party affiliation.

I definitely agree with you on that being an interesting state of affairs to pontificate about. Unfortunately, I think parties are pretty much an inescapable conclusion in politics whether we like them or not. Banding together to support common goals is a basic social instinct that's not going away any time soon and parties are the political manifestation of that instinct.