Esquire magazine and NBC News have identified what they’re calling “The New American Center,” and their results suggest that the political right and left are smaller than perceived and the political center is much larger.
Top pollsters for the Obama and Romney campaigns conducted the poll and they found 51 percent of voters fall into the new American center, and 44 percent of them do not feel their ideas are represented by either party.
Pollsters say the center is made up of four types of people: minivan moderates, the MBA middle, the pick-up populists and #WhateverMan.
“What we’re talking about here with the New American Center is the 51 percent of people who share common values and common beliefs about where we’re going and how we should get there,” Richard Dorment, a senior editor for Esquire magazine, said. “There is no strict political affiliation.”
Dorment says that traditionally “conservative” and “liberal” positions are complicated by the New American Center.
Generally, Dorment says, the New American Center is defined by people who are wary of government. They support issues like same-sex marriage, background checks on guns and a higher minimum wage. However, they are “suspicious” of immigration reform and affirmative action.
- Esquire: 13 Things That Define the New American Center
- NBC: ‘Slipping behind’: Are we becoming a nation of pessimists?
Guest
- Richard Dorment, senior editor for Esquire magazine.
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