Poll: Donald Trump less conservative than previous GOP nominees

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Democrat-turned-billionaire GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump is less conservative than his Republican predecessors on a variety of issues central to the party, a new survey said Tuesday.

The poll research, conducted by Gallup, shows that 47 percent of those surveyed said they viewed Trump as conservative, while 22 percent saying he is a moderate.

That figure is lower than how past Republican nominees were viewed.

In 2012, 60 percent said Mitt Romney was conservative. In 2008, John McCain registered 62 percent, and 68 percent viewed former President George W. Bush as a conservative in 2004. Former President George H.W. Bush's figure was 59 percent 12 years earlier.

The lower figure for Trump is likely no surprise to most observers, since the real estate magnate was a member of the Democratic party between 2001 and 2009 and in the past has supported Democratic leaders.

Nineteen percent of respondents, about 1 in 5, said they viewed Trump as liberal -- at least eight percentage points higher than any of the aforementioned Republicans.

Most of those who said they view Trump as conservative, though, are Democrats. More than half of Democrats (51 percent) polled said they view Trump that way, compared to just 9 percent of Republicans -- indicating that many in Trump's own party believe he's closer to the middle than to the right.

On the Democratic side, 58 percent said they view Hillary Clinton as liberal. Twenty-five percent said she is a moderate and 12 percent said conservative.

Clinton's liberal figure is the lowest in the poll since Kerry in 2004 (48 percent) and former President Bill Clinton in 1992 (42 percent).

"Clinton is slightly more likely than Trump to represent the ideology often associated with each candidate's respective party," Gallup said. "At the same time, slightly more voters consider Trump a liberal than call Clinton a conservative. As a result, the two receive about equal ratings as 'moderates.'"

The telephone survey was conducted last month based on 931 voters. It has a margin of error of plus/minus 4 percentage points.