Who is a Conservative and Who is a Liberal?

More Americans consistently identify themselves as conservative. Some groups of Americans are more likely to be liberal in their thinking, and others are more likely to be conservative. These are generalities that apply to groups of people rather than individuals.

Click on the images of following politicians and government officials to learn more about their political beliefs and decide whether he or she is representative of the norm for his group or not.

Justice Clarence Thomas is the first African American justice to serve on the Supreme Court. He believes the Constitution is color-blind and does not support affirmative action or preferential treatment for minorities. He also believes the Constitution is silent on abortion rights and therefore states should decide if abortion should be legal or not.

African American leaders place a high priority on retaining social welfare and educational programs to assist their progress in rectifying inequalities they have faced. They tend to be more liberal than the national average.

Bill Richardson, the former governor of New Mexico, sponsored tax cuts for working families in New Mexico and raised the minimum wage. He’s sponsored educational reform in his state and balanced the state budget.

Hispanic Americans tend to be less conservative than whites but there are many conservative Hispanics in this country too.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, now Secretary of State, served as a senator from New York from 2001 to 2009. She supported the war in Iraq but says that if she knew then what she knows now, would not have. She supports abortion rights and opposes same-sex marriage in favor of civil unions.

Women are more likely to support spending on social services and oppose higher levels of spending on the military. Women tend to be significantly less conservative than men.