More people think President Barack Obama is a "moderate" than ever have before, a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found.
According to the results, 40 percent of respondents said that "moderate" best described Obama, up 10 percent from a similar survey last year and up 3 percent from a survey taken during his inauguration two years ago.
Only 27 percent of respondents in the latest poll said they considered Obama to be "very liberal," the lowest number since his inauguration, while 11 percent said he was either "somewhat conservative" or "very conservative," the highest figure on record.
Many have pointed to Obama's work during the lame-duck session of Congress, as well as recent staff picks, as proof that the president is shifting toward the center, or perhaps to the right. His decision to push through a Republican compromise on tax cuts, which allowed for a temporary extension of high-end rates for the wealthiest Americans, was largely thought to have disappointed a large portion of Obama's left-leaning base.
The telephone survey polled 1,000 adults from Jan. 13 to 17. It has a margin of error of 3.1 percent.
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