Against the word liberal, that is.
Gallup has a new poll where they rank the most conservative and liberal states based on who identifies as conservative or liberal. Mississippi had the most conservative responses, with 50.5% identifying as conservative. DC had the most liberal responses, with 41.1% identifying as liberal. The second most liberal state is Vermont with...30.5%?
Gallup is trying to spin these results as being credible evidence of widespread conservatism in America...but they are just plain wrong about that.
Are things really this dire? Are we really unable to muster even 30% on our side in Massachusetts, a state Republicans don't even like to acknowledge as being basically American? I doubt it. There are two main forces at work here...
Liberals are uncomfortable with groupthink. The Democratic party truly is the BIG TENT party, no matter what the GOP likes to call itself. While the GOP enforces purity of thought and ideology, the Democratic party is full of contrasting views, loud opinions, and the more-than-occasional shouting match. Democrats just aren't comfortable with marching in lockstep. If you ask people what group they belong to, you're probably always going to get more responses from conservatives. Sometimes it gets frustrating...there are a few senators, for instance, I wish would stop hemming and hawing and start voting like a damn DEMOCRAT. Well, maybe just a couple senators. I forgot that one of the ones I had in mind lost in 2010 because she gave up any progressive principles she had and tried to be as much of a Republican as possible...
Which brings me to my next point:
Liberal has become a swear word. Like "feminist", the word "liberal" has been demonized and many people on the left allowed it to happen. However, "feminist" as an identifying label is thankfully coming back into force, and no such reawakening is happening for the word "liberal." Instead, we have all but abandoned the term in a switch to the word "progressive." While I have nothing but frustration for the cadre that spit on our words and the passive people who allow it to happen, I do welcome this switch. The opposite of "conservative" is not "liberal", after all...the opposite of conservatism is progress. And I would bet any amount of money that if they had asked these people if they were conservative or progressive, the results would be much more in our favor. Even in Mississippi, where people really do desire progress - they just grapple with their fear of it as well.