Raw Data: Democrats Identifying Mostly as “Liberal” These Days

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Over at the New York Times, Nikil Saval asks, ‘Who Wants to Be ‘Liberal’ Anymore?” According to Pew Research, here’s the answer:

Nearly half of millennial Democrats are willing to identify themselves as liberal, and the overall share of Democrats who call themselves liberal has been rising steadily since 2000.

The question Saval is asking is at least as old as the 60s, maybe older (though I’m too lazy to check): is the label “liberal” so associated with mainstream Democrats that it’s anathema to young lefties? Back then, the Vietnam War turned young activists against big labor and establishment Democrats, represented by people like Hubert Humphrey, Robert McNamara, George Meany, and so forth. Today, we have a new generation of Bernie admirers who feel the same way about contemorary Democrats like Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emanuel, and John Kerry—and sometimes even Barack Obama, who doesn’t always earn a pass for being the first black president.

So in 50 years we’ve gone from the SDS to Chapo Trap House, which may or may not be an improvement. But it’s nothing new. In the meantime, whether you want to call it liberalism or progressivism or anything else, Democrats have gotten a lot more friendly toward it over the past decade.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate