A new Gallup poll finds that 49 percent of Americans see the Democratic Party as “too liberal,” compared to 38 percent who see it “about right” — that’s a 22-point swing from 2008, when 50 percent saw the Democratic Party as “about right” and just 39 percent perceived it as “too liberal.” What this tells us is that when they ran for office two years ago, Democrats presented themselves as relatively moderate — and it worked. But now that we’re into the second year of the Obama administration, with Democrats in full control of Washington, the party is showing its true colors by enacting liberal policies — and people have noticed. This is likely why we’ve seen an erosion in support for Obama among the independents who helped catapult him to the White House. Gallup also notes that this is nearly the highest number of Americans thinking the Democratic party is “too liberal”, just one point shy of the record of 50 percent recorded for Democrats just after Republicans took control of Congress in 1994.

The poll found that 40 percent of Americans think the Republican Party is “too conservative,” compared with 43 percent in 2008.