Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R) is now seen as politically conservative by 40% of American voters. That’s a significant increase from the 29% who viewed him as conservative a month ago. It’s also the biggest change found among all candidates for the White House over the past month. Twenty-nine percent (29%) view Romney as politically moderate and 7% see him as liberal. Those figures are unchanged over the past month.

New York Senator Hillary Clinton (D) is seen as politically liberal by more voters (55%) than any other candidate. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R) tops the list at the other extreme—60% see him as politically conservative.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) is the only candidate seen as politically moderate by a majority of voters. Fifty-two percent (52%) see Giuliani that way. Twenty-five percent (25%) see him as conservative while 15% say he’s a liberal.

Among Republican voters, 42% see former Senator Fred Thompson as politically conservative while 41% say the same about Senator John McCain. Thirty-nine percent (39%) see Romney as conservative. One of the surprises so far in 2008 is that the Republican frontrunner is a man seen as politically conservative by just 21% of Republican voters.

Among Democratic voters, Senator Barack Obama (D) is seen as politically liberal by 36%. Thirty-one percent (31%) of Democrats have that view of Clinton. Edwards is seen as politically liberal by 23%, Joe Biden by 17%, and Bill Richardson by 9%. More than 30% of Democratic voters don’t know enough to have an opinion about the ideology of Biden or Richardson.

Rasmussen Reports continuously updates favorability ratings and general election match-ups for all Democratic and Republican candidates. Also available are continuously updated ratings for Members of Congress, Other Political Figures, and Journalists.

A recent tracking survey found that voters trust Democrats more than Republicans on ten key issues including taxes and national security. Democrats continue to lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot but their lead is smaller than a month ago.

Rasmussen Reports releases updated polling data for the Democrats’ nominating contest are updated on Mondays. Republican results are updated every each Tuesday.