They go together like Reagan and Republican. Whenever you see "Hoover Institution" in a news story, you can almost bet that "conservative think tank" is mentioned nearby. But a new survey conducted by Jack Bunzel, a Hoover senior research fellow, suggests that the famously anti-communist enclave may be more ideologically diverse than outsiders think. There are even -- gasp! -- Democrats.
In fact, about a quarter of the fellows who responded are registered Democrats, and most of them would like to see former Sen. Bill Bradley elected president. "It may well be that there are more Democrats at Hoover than there are Republicans in many, if not most, of Stanford's social science departments," says Bunzel, himself a Democrat. Fifty-eight percent of the 70 fellows who were surveyed responded.
None of this is to suggest that Hoover is in danger of becoming a haven for bleeding-heart liberals. It's still home to economist Milton Friedman and former speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich. More than two-thirds of the survey respondents are white, male Republicans over 40 who voted for presidents Reagan and Bush -- and who are backing George W. Bush this year.
The fellows' responses to specific policy questions show a group more in the middle than at either end of the political spectrum. Even the fellows who are members of the gop describe themselves as moderate, rather than conservative. Most Republicans responding to the survey would prefer that their party change its anti-abortion stance. Both Democrats and Republicans overwhelmingly oppose an amendment prohibiting flag burning. And the two groups agree almost unanimously that neither past adultery nor past drug use should disqualify a person from being president. Bunzel, for one, wasn't shocked by the responses: "There is nothing surprising here for those of us who have lived at Hoover."
