Political middle ground in America vanishing

Editor's note: This is another is a series of monthly "Freedom Index" polls conducted exclusively for WND by the public opinion research and media consulting company Wenzel Strategies.

A new WND Freedom Index poll reveals a growing chasm between Republicans and Democrats on the subject of freedoms in the nation – just as majority Democrats in Congress are pushing for sweeping changes in how society views the basic relationship between the public and private sectors and tries to orchestrate massive takeovers of health care and environmental policy.

Republicans are "very concerned" that freedoms quickly are being eroded, while Democrats are defending President Obama and his plans for the takeover of the health care industry following his advocacy of massive energy tax hikes and intervention in banking, insurance and auto manufacturing.

The WorldNetDaily Freedom Index for August reveals that the assessment of the future of freedoms in the U.S. stabilized after a drop a month earlier.

The index, a monthly measure of how Americans feel about what might be happening to a basketful of liberties, has ticked upward slightly from July's rating of 53.2 on a 100–point scale to 54.2 in this latest survey.

Just a month earlier, it had taken a nosedive from 57.6 to 53.2.

According to pollster Fritz Wenzel of Wenzel Strategies, the results indicate that while Democrats are becoming more assertive, Republicans' fears over their liberties are rising.

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"Republicans now say they are more likely to self-censor themselves when speaking about sensitive topics out of fear of some sort of retribution, compared to just a month ago," Wenzel's analysis of the results says. "Nearly a third – 32 percent – said they regularly or always self–censor what they say in public out of fear of retribution, compared to 28 percent who said the same thing just a month ago."

However, Democrats have moved the opposite direction.

"Fifty-nine percent said they never or almost never self-censor, up from 54 percent who said the same thing last month," the analysis said.

"The index, which includes 10 questions that are repeated every month in a national survey, showed that the partisan divide that usually diminishes at the beginning of a new presidency is re-emerging as Americans evaluate what the new administration's policies might mean to the country," the Wenzel report said.

"Asked if, under the Obama administration, whether freedoms are increasing or decreasing in America, 38 percent said they are increasing, while 48 percent said they are decreasing. That number is similar to our July measurement of the identical question. However, among Democrats, 66 percent said freedoms are increasing – up 9 percentage points from just last month. Meanwhile, 77 percent of Republicans said freedoms are decreasing, which is 8 points higher than just a month earlier," the report said.

Even independents are more fearful, with 54 percent saying they believe freedoms are being lost under Obama. That was up from 49 percent who said that last month.

"In the context of the on-going debates over health care and energy and social policies, this month's results of the Freedom Index poll show that the nation may be headed back into a period where political gains are made at the fringes, and that the opportunity for big, sweeping reforms of major institutions is passed," the analysis said.

"This is in part the result of overreaching on Capitol Hill, but is also in part the result of a changing society, where presidential honeymoons are getting shorter all the time – perhaps now too short to be used for any great political gain – and the American news cycle is moving much faster than the legislative cycle. Every year the legislative and news cycles get farther out of sync, and the loser, without exception, is the legislative cycle," Wenzel said.

"There is clearly growing anger on the political right, and that intensity can be seen at congressional town hall meetings across the country. What is not clear is whether the conservative backlash against a government completely controlled by the left will continue, or will fade with the cooling weather of autumn and the chill of the coming winter," Wenzel wrote.

Nearly one-third of the respondents, including 67 percent of the Republicans and four in 10 independents, expressed significant or great fear about punishments or penalties if they speak their minds.

One in four of all Americans feel significant limits on their ability to discuss their religious beliefs in public.

And well over half of the Americans say the government is using technology and its access to such documents as medical records to become too intrusive into residents' lives.

The WND/Wenzel survey was conducted August 19-25, 2009, using an automated telephone technology calling a random sampling of listed telephone numbers nationwide. The survey included 30 questions and carries a 95 percent confidence interval. It included 804 adult respondents. It carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

If you are a member of the media and would like to interview Fritz Wenzel about this story, please e-mail.

See detailed results of survey questions:

Do you believe that, under the Obama administration, America has seen an increase or a decrease in freedom?

Do you believe that today Americans can speak their minds freely without fear of punishment, penalty or retribution?

Do you believe that today Americans can associate with anyone they want, no matter who they are, without fear of penalty, government investigation or retribution?

Do you believe that today Americans can worship in any manner they choose without fear they will be punished, ostracized, investigated or face some other penalty?

Do you believe that the government today is using technology, such as cameras, scanners, and electronic health records, to become too intrusive into the lives of citizens?

If there were a controversial cause about which you felt strongly, would you be afraid to attend a local rally to voice your opinion because of fear of retribution, penalty, or government investigation?

How free do you feel to put a bumper sticker on your car or to wear a button expressing your political or religious beliefs?

How free do you feel to discuss political or religious beliefs in a public place, such as in a restaurant or on a bus or train?

Do you feel you are free to express what you truly think about any subject without fear of harm, punishment, government investigation, or some other penalty?

Do you find that you self-censor thoughts before speaking on certain issues in public because you fear harm, punishment, social rejection, or some other penalty?