The news media has launched a persistent effort to portray Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden as a moderate in an effort to boost his appeal among moderates, or centrists, who make up the largest portion of the voting public.
Time magazine described Mr. Biden as the “middle of the road” candidate on Saturday, while the Los Angeles Times this week said the candidate had put a “centrist stamp on Democrats’ future.”
The Democratic convention will be a centrist hoedown,” predicted The Nation, referring to the four-day event which begins Monday.
Americans, however, don’t appear to be buying the media’s cozy moderate image, according to a new survey. Just a quarter believe Mr. Biden is a moderate, while a hefty portion say he is liberal. The bare minimum think there’s a possibility Mr. Biden could be conservative. Here are the numbers:
• 26% of U.S. adults perceive Joe Biden to be a political “moderate”; 11% of conservatives, 37% of moderates and 40% of liberals agree.
• 25% overall say he is “very liberal”; 55% of conservatives, 15% of moderates and 8% of liberals agree.
• 23% overall say he is “liberal”; 18% of conservatives, 23% of moderates and 35% of liberals agree.
• 18% are not sure of Mr. Biden’s ideology; 8% of conservatives, 77% of moderates and 6% of liberals agree.
• 6% say he is “conservative”; 6% of conservatives, 5% of moderates and 7% of liberals agree.
3% say he is “very conservative”; 2% of conservatives, 4% of moderates and 3% of liberals agree.
Source: An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,500 U.S. adults conducted Aug. 2-4.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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