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Conservatives, Liberals and the Arts
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Classical music is one of the few things conservatives and liberals can agree on, according to a new poll by the Norman Lear Center and Zogby International. Classical music nudged slightly ahead of rock music as the most popular genre overall.
You can read more about the poll here. Much of the commentary deals with TV watching, but pollsters also asked about music, live theater, galleries and museums.
The poll found that liberals are “much more likely” than others to visit museums and galleries and attend live theater. One possible reason: liberals have more wide-ranging tastes. The poll found that conservatives prefer to avoid entertainment programming they feel is in bad taste or doesn’t reflect their values (bad news for many contemporary art galleries and theaters). Meanwhile, over 80% of liberals admit they are entertained by material that’s in bad taste. Liberals also are more likely to enjoy programming that runs counter to their political beliefs.
What do you think? Do you avoid art that runs counter to your beliefs or do you seek it out? Can you really tell how a person will vote based on their entertainment preferences?
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Classical Music
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By BPJ
November 14, 2007 8:58 AM | Link to this
Studies like this reinforce the belief that this country is divided into two groups:liberals & conservatives. But polling over several decades shows that almost 50% of Americans self-identify as moderates, with roughly 30% as conservatives and 20% as liberals. But introducing three options (rather than two) into the story, complicates the picture. It’s harder to write headlines, for example. It’s harder to get online comments which follow predictable patterns. But moderates exist, and are at least a plurality, if not a majority. So why ignore us?