How “Progressive” Are You?
Me…. not so much. (h/t – Brooks Bayne)
Take the quiz yourself. I actually found MOST of the questions balanced and MOST of the questions would easily fit in “the CONSERVATIVE quiz” just as well.
By the way, the Center for American Progress cannot possibly think America is now a “center-left” country because of 9.5 points to the left on this quiz, right?
-Bruce (GayPatriot)
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We must be birds of a feather! My score was 108 also.
Hmmm… I wonder what that means…??!
Comment by Lingster — March 15, 2009 @ 10:14 am - March 15, 2009
I scored behind Neanderthal and here is why. Typical of these “polls” is the compound question that is impossible to answer on a 0 to 10 scale. To wit:
The “average” liberal might just brush by this with a “10″ which indicated total agreement. It is such a “feel good” question.
But it is actually three questions. 1) Americans should adopt a more sustainable lifestyle. 2) Americans should conserve energy. 3) Americans should consume fewer goods. For these three distinctly different questions, you must choose one 0 to 10 number answer which ranges from stages of “less agree” to “more agree.”
Sure we should get our energy house in order. That is good business. But consume fewer goods? What’s up with that? That is antithetical to capitalism. And what is the underlying assumption that Americans should adopt a more sustainable lifestyle? It that a call for more religion? Not unless government is your savior. Who, pray tell is going to appoint the czar and police the people in the drive to establish a more sustainable lifestyle? H-m-m-m-m-m?
This poll is riddled with these poorly constructed questions. And then they have the Moxie to tell you where you rate according to your responses. It must have had a bunch of Obama voters for the sample.
Comment by heliotrope — March 15, 2009 @ 10:23 am - March 15, 2009
I would like to see where they get the number “209.5″ as a static number since people are still taking the quiz. I have a “feeling” the research to get that number is not as solid as they present it.
I personally received an 89 so I get the title “extremely conservative” LOL
I am extreme! w00t
Comment by Colocelt — March 15, 2009 @ 10:35 am - March 15, 2009
me…54/400
Comment by Mark — March 15, 2009 @ 10:58 am - March 15, 2009
I scored an 85/400. I always thought of myself as either conservative or moderately conservative.
Comment by Roberto — March 15, 2009 @ 11:10 am - March 15, 2009
144.5 here.
I must a radical liberal compared to you guys
Comment by LCRW — March 15, 2009 @ 11:19 am - March 15, 2009
90/400, that makes me a extremely conservative, but I already knew that.
Comment by Leah — March 15, 2009 @ 11:46 am - March 15, 2009
No score yet #31 caused a spasm.
“Immigrants today are a burden on our country because they take our jobs and abuse government benefits.”
What number do I pick? Do I assume they mean “illegal” immigrants or do I assume the question means what it says and disagree strongly? Stupid poll!
Don’t know whether to do it and try for a “legitimate” score or just answer everything as “radically right” as possible to skew their results.
Comment by bertie — March 15, 2009 @ 12:29 pm - March 15, 2009
[...] How “Progressive” Are You? [...]
Pingback by GayPatriot » Why Does “Progressive” Mean Bigger Role for State? — March 15, 2009 @ 12:36 pm - March 15, 2009
I scored a 57
VERY proud of myself!!! I wonder now that conservative and repubs are going to this site and doing this little “quiz” whether or not the “average” will dip below 200 
Comment by Andy P — March 15, 2009 @ 12:56 pm - March 15, 2009
The poll is a joke! Full of loaded questions like “immigrants are a burden on our country because they take out jobs and abuse government benefits”
But its illegal immigrants that do that, not immigrants.
And, :We must do whatever is necessary to protect America from terrorism, even if it means restricting civil liberties or engaging in methods some might consider torture.”
I’m all for torture. Might not be a bad idea to torture more liberals as far as that goes, but I would bet good money this question is scored exactly the opposite of how it should be. While “progressives” love to wail and gnash their teeth about all the civil liberties President Bush supposedly restricted, the courts disagree with them. And more importantly, it is, has always been and remains to this day progressives like FDR and Wilson that have been the biggest threat to civil liberties in America.
Comment by American Elephant — March 15, 2009 @ 1:15 pm - March 15, 2009
But thats what you get from liberal think tanks. Propaganda.
“Progressive” or liberal think tanks and conservative think tanks behave exactly the way liberals and conservatives individuals do in general.
Conservatives look at the facts then make their minds up based upon them. Liberals or “progressives” or whatever the hell they are calling themselves this week make up their minds, then go about cherry picking information to support the answer they are looking for.
Comment by American Elephant — March 15, 2009 @ 1:21 pm - March 15, 2009
Wow, I’m actually more conservative than you, which surprises me slightly…only 5 points more conservative but still.
(Some would blame it on my Aquarius nature making me polarized…I just say it’s because I’m right.)
Comment by anonnemo — March 15, 2009 @ 2:04 pm - March 15, 2009
my score was 147 and I read and answered honestly. After looking at your scores, that 209.5 has to be adjusted at some point.
Comment by EDinTampa — March 15, 2009 @ 2:33 pm - March 15, 2009
I got a 58. Love this question:
Sooooo…. America must play a leading role in doing what other people say? How does that work?
Also gotta love their efforts to convince themselves that America is becoming more miserable like they are.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — March 15, 2009 @ 4:10 pm - March 15, 2009
220 here. and I agree about the poorly phrased and weighted questions.
Comment by The_Livewire — March 15, 2009 @ 4:11 pm - March 15, 2009
I was scoring so far to the right that by the time I got to question #31 the whole system froze up on me. Theory: The system is programmed to weed out conservatives, lest they throw the average score too far in a non-progressive direction.
Comment by Elephant in the Room — March 15, 2009 @ 5:07 pm - March 15, 2009
313, yikes.i was pretty middling on the economic stuff but prehaps typical on the social and foreign policy. Note: why are some of my posts not coming through? i dont think i was making inappropriate comments…just linking to websites…
Comment by Scottland — March 15, 2009 @ 6:54 pm - March 15, 2009
er 110, stupid typos
Comment by The_Livewire — March 15, 2009 @ 7:16 pm - March 15, 2009
All you folks in the 50′s like me want to start a militia or something? LOL
Comment by Mark — March 15, 2009 @ 7:34 pm - March 15, 2009
Comment by ThatGayConservative — March 15, 2009 @ 7:44 pm - March 15, 2009
crap
Comment by ThatGayConservative — March 15, 2009 @ 7:44 pm - March 15, 2009
hmm or maybe you guys are just more radical than you realize.
Comment by bob (aka boob) — March 15, 2009 @ 8:19 pm - March 15, 2009
304/400 here
Comment by bob (aka boob) — March 15, 2009 @ 8:25 pm - March 15, 2009
did you guys notice how ppl with a high school education or less fall on the conservative side? s.h.o.c.k.i.n.g.
ha
Comment by bob (aka boob) — March 15, 2009 @ 8:29 pm - March 15, 2009
bob,
I am horrendously over educated and my cowl carries more stripes than I can lift. But, I didn’t make it past 60. I suppose I should call my publisher and cancel the books that treat me to my living standard.
I sometimes envy people who do not have to think for a living.
Comment by heliotrope — March 15, 2009 @ 8:44 pm - March 15, 2009
there are always outliers to any statistical correlation, heliotrope. now go read my responses to your other absurd comments in that earlier post. thanks.
Comment by bob (aka boob) — March 15, 2009 @ 8:51 pm - March 15, 2009
I almost feel liberal given my score of 141.
I agree that a lot of the questions were loaded, or essentially more than one question, or questions created without a solid definition of what they meant, so I picked 5 a lot since I couldn’t say for sure I agreed or disagreed.
I am not a big fan of most of these political quizes, because of the poor questions, but I keep taking them anyway.
Comment by just me — March 15, 2009 @ 9:08 pm - March 15, 2009
bob,
My 26 volume OED does not have “outlier” or its plural. But from Wikipedia I discover it means: In statistics, an outlier is an observation that is numerically distant from the rest of the data.
I do not grasp the concept. Perhaps you can enlighten me.
Comment by heliotrope — March 15, 2009 @ 9:23 pm - March 15, 2009
bob, not to goad you, but have you passed your sophomore year of college yet?
Comment by heliotrope — March 15, 2009 @ 9:26 pm - March 15, 2009
yeah, ever heard of yale law?
Comment by bob (aka boob) — March 15, 2009 @ 9:58 pm - March 15, 2009
Well, that was fun. But the scoring gradient was too wide to be consistent. It also could have used more descriptive terms. 1 to 5 would’ve been easier — strongly disagree, somewhat disagree, neutral, somewhat agree and strongly agree.
Comment by Erik — March 16, 2009 @ 2:37 am - March 16, 2009
A lot of the questions are absurd and should have been broken up some… The “immigrant”, global warming, and “sustainable lifestyles” questions are particularly egregious, though the torture one gave me pause. I don’t give two craps about torture, but not because I don’t care about “civil liberties”, but more because I don’t think I have a “civil” responsibility to foreign murderers.
Comment by DoDoGuRu — March 16, 2009 @ 6:14 am - March 16, 2009
Yeah. They haven’t been exposed to the real brainwashing yet. They maybe exposed to the teacher’s unions (read: DNC donors), but they still have their folks to keep them on an even keel.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — March 16, 2009 @ 6:54 am - March 16, 2009
Those questions were ridiculously loaded and presumptive. “The Federal government should ensure affordable health care for every American.” A conservative and a “progressive” could both strongly agree on the ends while disagreeing on the means. To a progressive, the government ensures affordable health care by nationalizing the health care industry. A conservative would achieve the same goal by getting the government out of health care and letting market forces reduce health care costs to a sustainable level. A more honest formulation would be “Is health care a right?”
Or this one, “Govt has gone too far in forcing religious values on people.” Although I am a deep conservative, I think government has gone too far in enforcing a religion upon people, the religion being environmentalist socialism. But that is not the answer the quiz designers wanted.
One must consider the source. This quiz is put out by a radical left group that wants to convince people that progressivism, a.k.a. fascism, is the way of the future, to create a phony consensus (like with Global Warming) and to use peer pressure to silence critics.
If you’re a mindless cow seeking validation through membership in an undifferentiated ego mass, then this flavor of Obamunist progressive, a.k.a. fascist, ideology probably appeals to you.
Comment by V the K — March 16, 2009 @ 8:45 am - March 16, 2009
Bruce, I need to go wash my hands… I scored 74/400.
What, no questions about returning to the gold standard or farmers’ cooperatives being useful?
Comment by Michigan-Matt — March 16, 2009 @ 9:11 am - March 16, 2009
OK, let’s try this again. After I reveal my score, all of you may be wondering why I visit this site. The libertarian in me jacked up the score when it came to social values. My score: 271. Pass the smelling salts!
Comment by Jimbo — March 16, 2009 @ 9:32 am - March 16, 2009
The Real Progressive Quiz.
Comment by V the K — March 16, 2009 @ 10:24 am - March 16, 2009
Perhaps we should change the test to read like this: “Government should dictate what health care you receive, should be able to deny you care because it believes you don’t need it, and should be allowed to prevent you from accessing private care because doing so could upset the balance of payments for government-provided care.”
Or: “Those who immigrate to this country illegally and ignore deportation orders to leave should be allowed subsidized housing, free healthcare, and a government job, all provided at taxpayer expense — just like Barack Obama’s aunt.”
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — March 16, 2009 @ 11:39 am - March 16, 2009
Or, “A small panel of appointed judges should be able to over-rule the people’s elected representatives, or the people themselves, whenever necessary to achieve an outcome that can not be achieved legislatively.”
Comment by V the K — March 16, 2009 @ 11:48 am - March 16, 2009
My score was 48. Nyah, nyah, beat you all!
Comment by rightwingprof — March 16, 2009 @ 12:13 pm - March 16, 2009
Well, you are “rightwing” prof, no? If you didn’t beat us all, you should be made to tear up that diploma.
Comment by Michigan-Matt — March 16, 2009 @ 12:14 pm - March 16, 2009
Hey, that’s me, my ‘highest degree’ is an AA in textile design.
Here is what you blowhard libs don’t get, my education has never stopped. I’m what you’d call an autodidact (boob, go look it up in a dictionary).
Comment by Leah — March 16, 2009 @ 12:16 pm - March 16, 2009
How about the right kind of progressivism?
Like TeddyR’s 1904 version: push conservation and natl parks, get a pro-American govt in Panama to watch out for our interests and break up the trusts. And, while President, stay the heck out of the WH as much as possible.
Comment by Michigan-Matt — March 16, 2009 @ 12:16 pm - March 16, 2009
Survey says…..174/400, conservative!
Here, here, Michigan-Matt!! While overall I’m conservative in the broad-spectrum of political and ecomic discourse; I always call myself a small-business progressive-Republican when in GOP circles…must be the whole “gay-thing”. I follow the footsteps of Teddy Roosevelt, there are things the only Government can do, or should do, and stay the Hell out of the rest….
I found they way they worded the questions there were only a few that were “0′s” or “10′s”. As pointed-out above, did they mean legal immigrants…or illegal immigrants?
Comment by Ted B. (Charging Rhino) — March 16, 2009 @ 12:44 pm - March 16, 2009
#18 Scotland
The same thing used to happen to me. It was my mouse used to double click so that it cnaceled what I had written rather than send. I still see some delays, but it could be distance if you are in Scotland as I am in El Salvador.
Comment by Roberto — March 16, 2009 @ 1:26 pm - March 16, 2009
Ultra non-prog here, 65 score. The weaselwordiness of the poll is amazing, Podesta must have had a baker’s dozen of Harvard PHuds working on that.
Comment by westWright — March 16, 2009 @ 2:41 pm - March 16, 2009
123/400
Have to agree with all the criticisms of the format; combining too many variables in one question (how important is government involvement in education, infrastructure AND science?), vague parameters (the “immigrant” question, what kind of immigrant?), etc.
Still, it was better worded than many other similar quizzes.
Comment by DoorHold — March 16, 2009 @ 3:54 pm - March 16, 2009
165/400
I picked mostly middle answers. I thought it was problematic that a lot of questions were really a couple of questions, and I had differing opinions on the different questions.
Comment by J.T. — March 16, 2009 @ 5:36 pm - March 16, 2009
I scored 148. That was low enough to label me very conservative.
I agree with heliotrope (comment #2) about the construction of questions. Many were two or more questions stated together. You could agree with one part and disagree with the other!
Comment by Classical Liberal Dave — March 17, 2009 @ 1:51 am - March 17, 2009
I scored a 240. I also didn’t like that some questions were really two or three questions that I could have totally different opinions. I just took a quick average of those opinions for those questions. I was also middle of the road on most of the questions.
Comment by Pat — March 17, 2009 @ 7:03 am - March 17, 2009
220. It’s probably about right.
Comment by DaveO — March 17, 2009 @ 3:16 pm - March 17, 2009
bob (aka boob) at #25:
Yes. It’s the result of common sense — something generally lacking in people with too much book smarts.
Comment by Classical Liberal Dave — March 17, 2009 @ 4:28 pm - March 17, 2009
I scored about 117.
Comment by Attmay — March 20, 2009 @ 8:22 am - March 20, 2009