Fifty-seven percent (57%) of Americans view President George W. Bush as politically conservative. Nineteen percent (19%) say the 43rd president of the United States is politically moderate, while 11% see him as liberal.

The survey’s responses place President Bush 29 points to the right of the nation’s political center.

The political center is calculated by subtracting the number of liberals from the number of conservatives among the general public (35% conservative, 18% liberal for a net +17). For President Bush, 57% conservative minus 11% liberal equals a net plus 46. The plus 46 reading for President Bush is 29 points away from the plus 17 reading for the general public.

As a point of comparison, one of the likely contenders to replace Bush when his term ends, New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, scores 55 points to the left. Republican Senator John McCain is nine points away from the political center.

In January of 2004, at the beginning of his re-election campaign, just 48% of Americans viewed the President as politically conservative. By the end of the campaign season, 64% viewed him as politically conservative.

The President angered conservatives over the past year, especially on the immigration issue. In fact, his Job Approval ratings hit their lowest point ever following his speech to the nation advocating an immigration policy that many conservatives considered amnesty.

On the other side of the equation, Bush’s detractors accuse him of being out of step with the American public, saying his personal religious and conservative views often influence his public agenda. His recent veto of legislation that would increase funding for embryonic stem cell research has been cited as one example.

Perceptions of the President’s ideology differ based on the respondents’ ages and family situations. Sixty percent (60%) of individuals 18-29 see the president as conservative. That number dips to 49% for those ages 65 and older.

Sixty-one percent (61%) of married respondents view Bush as conservative, 20% say he’s moderate and 8% call him liberal. Among singles, 50% identify the president as conservative, 16% moderate and 15% liberal.

Crosstabs are available for Premium Members only.