American politics is about to get more right-wing. This poll shows why

by Matthew Yglesias
Pew Research Center's post-election survey includes one finding that'll be really important for the future of American politics: a large majority of Republican voters say they want the GOP to move to the right, while a small majority of Democratic voters say they want the Democrats to move to the center. 

One should never infer too much from polls that ask the American people about ideology. The evidence is overwhelming that most people don't have highly ideological worldviews, and that people aren't well-informed about the specific issue content of liberalism versus conservatism. But this information does tell us something about how politicians are likely to present themselves to the public. Republicans looking to run in a 2016 primary are very unlikely to argue that the party needs to be chastened by its defeats in 2008 and 2012, while Hillary Clinton faces reasonably strong incentives to present herself as less liberal than Barack Obama.