Comments on: Freshman Political Orientation, 2007 edition

By: Thomas

Thomas — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 02:06:00 +0000

It’s also interesting to note that those who identified as “Very Conservative,” though never more than two percent of the sample, doubled in two years.

By: Calvin Spealman

Calvin Spealman — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 17:37:00 +0000

I read this blog as it comes through my reader, but I hadn’t realized you were at UNC, near Charlotte. I’m starting a Python User Group here. i can’t remember any language specifics on your blog, so I don’t know if you’d be interested. Thought i would mention it in case.

We have a Google Group named CharPy.

By: ge

ge — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 00:20:00 +0000

Fred,

It's interesting to compare your results with some percentages that I derived from voter registration data from the Orange County Board of Elections.

In 2000, 48% of new registrants were Democratic, 23% were Republicans, 29% were unaffiliated.

In 2007, 45% of new registrants were Democratic, 18% were Republicans, 38% were unaffiliated.

The obvious winner is the "Unaffiliated" "party". I wonder how that correlates with your data since your data doesn't show any growth of "moderates".

BTW, jkd's definition of "libertarian" is spot on! People were able to register as Libertarians until 2005 or so. The highest number of registrations in any year from 2000 thru 2004 was two (2)!

By: jkd

jkd — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:51:00 +0000

also note the several-percentage uptick in “libertarian” identification – “libertarian” being what some conservatives who vote just like other conservatives but don’t want to be identified with them, call themselves.