Response: Assuming a reasonably precise and uniformly accepted definitions of "conservative" and "liberal" then why are we not in control?
Comment: I think the problem is really in the term "moderate." A moderate is a liberal!
The poll results are those who ‘self-identify’. It’s not based on any behavior.
If one lives in a college town and doesn’t agree with local professors that corporate executives should be executed, it’s possible to imagine oneself ‘conservative’.
Look at all the FReepers who self-describe themselves as ‘conservative’ because they oppose abortion and gay marriage but endorse every socialist policy backed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops!