Poll finds students less liberal than they are perceived to be
Preliminary results from the first annual Swarthmore College Student Poll, conducted by Matt Fiedler '06 and Colin Holtz-Eakin '07 from March 29 through April 20 and released earlier this week, show that while still overwhelmingly liberal, students are more moderate than their peers believe them to be. Additionally, the poll found that while a large plurality of students supports the living wage, a large minority, 29%, expressed no opinion. The no opinion category is thought to include students who generally do not feel informed enough to have a strong opinion as well as those for whom support is conditional on the exact proposal.
The student body remains liberal, with 22% categorizing themselves as extremely liberal and 53% as slightly liberal, and overwhelmingly Democratic, with 65% choosing that party affiliation, according to information provided to the Gazette by Fiedler and Holtz-Eakin.
A selection of the preliminary results is reproduced below.
Do you think it should be legal or illegal for homosexual couples to get married?
88% - Legal 6% - Illegal 6% - No Opinion
Question: Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statement: "I feel comfortable expressing my political opinions on campus."
18% - Strongly Agree 58% - Agree 18% - Disagree 3% - Strongly Disagree 3% - Don't Know
Question: Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: "I feel comfortable discussing my religious beliefs on campus."
23% - Strongly Agree 55% - Agree 13% - Disagree 5% - Strongly Disagree 5% - Don't Know
Question: When it comes to politics, do you usually think of yourself as extremely liberal, slightly liberal, middle of the road, slightly conservative, extremely conservative, or haven't you thought much about this?
22% - Extremely Liberal 53% - Slightly Liberal 12% - Middle of the Road 8% - Slightly Conservative 1% - Extremely Conservative 4% - Haven't Thought Much About This
Question: (Asked only of those who identified themselves as Democrats) Of the following ten Democrats (names rotated), who was your first choice to be the Democratic Party's presidential candidate this year?
3% - Carol Mosley-Braun 28% - Howard Dean 1% - Dick Gephardt 2% - Joe Lieberman 11% - John Kerry 7% - Dennis Kucinich 9% - John Edwards 13% - Wesley Clark 2% - Al Sharpton 23% - No Opinion
Question: How important would you say religion is in your own life: very important, fairly important, or not very important?
19% - Very Important 25% - Fairly Important 52% - Not Very Important 4% - No Opinion
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