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| Liberals Read More Books than Conservatives |
| 2007-08-21 |
| H/T Drudge Book Chief: Conservatives Want Slogans Aug 21 02:40 PM US/Eastern By ALAN FRAM Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Liberals read more books than conservatives. The head of the book publishing industry's trade group says she knows why—and there's little flattering about conservative readers in her explanation. "The Karl Roves of the world have built a generation that just wants a couple slogans: 'No, don't raise my taxes, no new taxes,'" Pat Schroeder, president of the American Association of Publishers, said in a recent interview. "It's pretty hard to write a book saying, 'No new taxes, no new taxes, no new taxes' on every page." Schroeder, who as a Colorado Democrat was once one of Congress' most liberal House members, was responding to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll that found people who consider themselves liberals are more prodigious book readers than conservatives. She said liberals tend to be policy wonks who "can't say anything in less than paragraphs. We really want the whole picture, want to peel the onion." The book publishing industry is predominantly liberal, though conservative books by authors like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., and pundit Ann Coulter have been best sellers in recent years. Overall, book sales have been flat as publishers seek to woo readers lured away by the Internet, movies and television. Rove, President Bush's departing political adviser, is known as a prodigious reader. White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Schroeder was "confusing volume with quality" with her remarks. "Obfuscation usually requires a lot more words than if you simply focus on fundamental principles, so I'm not at all surprised by the loquaciousness of liberals," he said. "As head of a book publishing association, she probably shouldn't malign any readers," said Mary Matalin, a GOP strategist who oversees a line of books by conservative authors, Threshold, at Simon & Schuster. Matalin said conservatives and others aren't necessarily reading less, but are getting more information online and from magazines. The AP-Ipsos poll found 22 percent of liberals and moderates said they had not read a book within the past year, compared with 34 percent of conservatives. Among those who had read at least one book, liberals typically read nine books in the year, with half reading more than that and half less. Conservatives typically read eight, moderates five. By slightly wider margins, Democrats tended to read more books than Republicans and independents. There were no differences by political party in the percentage of those who said they had not read at least one book. The poll involved telephone interviews with 1,003 adults and was conducted August 6 to 8. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. |
| Posted by:eltoroverde |
| #25 #23 Thanks Frank G and Sherry, too! You won't regret it... and if you really, really like it, the next one will be a trilogy about the German settlements in Texas; adventure, true love, Indian raids, Texas Rangers, murder, revenge and Civil War too! And cows. Gotta have cows... the cattle ranching thing, y'know. Sarge, Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson's Valley Campaign of 1862 Nathan Bedford Forrest <;-) |
| Posted by: Red Dawg 2007-08-21 22:42 |
| #24 You know, that's pretty odd. Most of the liberals I run into on campus couldn't read an actual paragraph to save their life. Much less a full book. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2007-08-21 22:37 |
| #23 Thanks Frank G and Sherry, too! You won't regret it... and if you really, really like it, the next one will be a trilogy about the German settlements in Texas; adventure, true love, Indian raids, Texas Rangers, murder, revenge and Civil War too! And cows. Gotta have cows... the cattle ranching thing, y'know. |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2007-08-21 22:08 |
| #22 Conservatives no longer read books. Only e-books. Something to it. My eyesight is not what it used to be and sometime tired after a long day of coding. Too much squinting and headache follows. I prefer e-book format, where I can enlarge text so it is legible for me without much effort, the degree of enlargement varies from time to time. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-08-21 21:31 |
| #21 They conducted the poll on three weekdays. How many bets that they called peoples homes in the middle of the workday, spoke only with those who were not occupied with something USEFUL and discarded anyone who used words with more than two syllables? When I was young and had the time and inclination I read 4-8 books a week. I am down to 1> per week because of time restraints, as well as the lack of anything interesting to read. Not being wealthy I do not buy books I don;t think I will like, restricting what I will read. I tend to avoid political books, though. I have no trust for politicians and will not willingly give them money. |
| Posted by: Jame_Retief 2007-08-21 20:43 |
| #20 The book publishing industry is predominantly liberal, though conservative books by authors like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., and pundit Ann Coulter have been best sellers in recent years. This one fact alone explains that (statistically speaking) virtually neck-in-neck of "who reads the most" poll. We've had NOTHING to read that was worth the paper it was printed on until fairly recently. 9/11 was a BIG cause of that (at least for "young whipper snappers" like me, born AFTER the 1960's). Now, I can't get enough! I'm off to go get the SEAL Team 10 book as soon as I can. |
| Posted by: BA 2007-08-21 20:40 |
| #19 Okay Sgt. Mom -- following in Frank G's steps, I'm in for one (I also read about 2 books a week) |
| Posted by: Sherry 2007-08-21 19:53 |
| #18 I wonder how many liberals have read the, for weeks, #1 book on the NYTimes list, and just this week, dropped to 2nd? I've smiled big time everytime I look to follow the ranking of Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell |
| Posted by: Sherry 2007-08-21 19:44 |
| #17 OK - I'm in for one let's see whut you got :-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-08-21 19:37 |
| #16 Over here! Over Here! (waves hands, jumps up and down frantically) I've written a book! (link here) A very nice book all about the frontier west and the greatest adventure no one ever heard about, and it's kinda conservative, not very much bad language, and the main love story is between a couple who have been married for years and are still crackers about each other... and I have to sell another 1,999,985 copies before I can even think of moving into a castle next door to JK Rowlings'! Prove that Pat Shroeder is wrong, wrong, wrongedy wrong! Conservatives do so want to read books... just not the ones that the current literary industrial complex is pushing! |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2007-08-21 19:27 |
| #15 >The book publishing industry is predominantly liberal Time to setup Fox Publishing. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2007-08-21 18:36 |
| #14 They are also more likely to smoke crack. How long does it take to read books full of pictures anyway? |
| Posted by: Iblis 2007-08-21 18:28 |
| #13 She said liberals tend to be policy wonks who "can't say anything in less than paragraphs. We really want the whole picture, want to peel the onion." she said slapping a NO BLOOD FOR OIL bumper sticker onto her car and putting her BusHITLER protest sign into the backseat of her car. Fact is liberals carry their politics on their sleaves and all about show. They would buy up BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME to leave for people to see so they would look more intelligent. I imagine bookshelves filled with unread liberal titles to impress guests. This does not make one more intellectual, it makes one a mindless consumer with pretentions of granduer. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2007-08-21 17:56 |
| #12 Pat Schroeder? Pat Schroeder? Has she stopped crying yet? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-08-21 17:50 |
| #11 And Liberals are less likely to tell pollster the truth. If this were based on hard evidence like the number of books purchased and actually read I'd give it some credence. As it is, it says more about the unreliability of polling to determine people's real behaviour. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2007-08-21 17:40 |
| #10 ...but their lips move. |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-08-21 17:34 |
| #9 I read Rantburg and books, inclusive of war, politics and history. Fiction/fantasy doesn't cut it for me. Occasionally, I read the opposition's story, but I draw the line at the teachings of Mo'. |
| Posted by: rhodesiafever 2007-08-21 17:32 |
| #8 Pat Schroeder? Damn, I thought we were well shut of that harpy. Like stepping on bubble gum on a hot day, I guess. |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2007-08-21 17:30 |
| #7 As a Presidential *snort* candidate, True words, Frank. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-08-21 17:27 |
| #6 well, I read books - all the time. Usually 2/week, which explains the bags under my eyes. On my week-long vacation I read 5 books. Pat "Weepy" Schroeder can kiss my literate ass. I'll put big money down that I've read more in any two years than she has her entire life. She was a partisan loser in Congress, As a Presidential *snort* candidate, and in her current job, apparently |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-08-21 17:23 |
| #5 No wonder 90%+ of what gets published is crap... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2007-08-21 17:12 |
| #4 Conservatives no longer read books. Only e-books. |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-08-21 17:09 |
| #3 I'd love to see the fiction vs. non-fiction statistics. As near as I can tell, liberals are largely into fantasy. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2007-08-21 16:59 |
| #2 *snort* They're spinning a difference of ONE in the AVERAGE as something meaningful? And do you count short books with large type the same as a thick book with itty-bitty type? |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2007-08-21 16:49 |
| #1 I think that its just that liberals have a lot more disposable time than that of conservatives. I work for a living and don't have the time for taking stupid polls. |
| Posted by: SCpatriot@work 2007-08-21 16:42 |