Chart Of The Day

Kristol augments the significance of this Gallup poll making the rounds on conservative blogs. Allahpundit:

Good news, but a tad underwhelming when you look at the numbers. Right now it breaks out at 40/37/20 among conservatives, moderates, and liberals, respectively. Between 2006 and 2008, when the left was routing us at the polls, it was roughly … 37/37/22, a testament to how toxic progressives’ brand is even at the best of times.

James Joyner explained this polling effect last week:

Essentially, virtually all Republicans self-identify as “conservative” whereas many Democrats think of themselves as “moderate” or even “conservative.”  While this is partly a function of the greater size and therefore diversity of the Democratic coalition at the moment, it’s also the power of branding.   Liberal has been a dirty word for decades, despite views considered ultra liberal in my boyhood now being moderate, if not conservative.

Reason chimes in:

This data is broadly consistent with the Harris Poll, which has shown for the past 30-plus years that self-identified independents and conservatives far outnumber self-identified liberals. Interestingly, this is independent of party affiliation, which has consistenly been more Democratic than Republican.