Americans rate their own ideology at 53, on average, on a 0-to-100 scale where 0 indicates very liberal views and 100 indicates very conservative views.  

On that scale, former Senator Rick Santorum lies 22 points away, at an average score of 75; former Governor Mitt Romney, at 62, is closest to the self-rated ideology of adults nationwide. 

None of the Republicans are as far away from America’s self-rating than President Barack Obama, whom Americans rate as a 25 on the ideological scale, 28 points away from themselves in the most recent Economist/YouGov poll of adults nationwide [link to archives: January 14-17, 2012].   

MEAN IDEOLOGY RATING  Rate each on a 0-to-100 scale, where 0 is the most liberal and 100 is the most conservative?



Photo source:  Press Association

Economist/YouGov poll archives can be found here