Yes, the breakdown of ideology doesn't have as much to do with actual ideology as it does with how voters prefer to label their views. Some people still have a hard time calling themselves liberals, don't know why- maybe it conjures of images of dirty hippies and draft dodgers. People do seem to be more willing to call themselves conservatives though, probably because the GOP has embraced the term while you rarely hear Democratic politicians calling themselves liberal.
But it's no matter to me. Republicans love to mention the fact that there are more self identified conservatives, but the "liberal" party seems to be winning a lot more elections lately...
Democrats never call themselves liberal. And actually a lot of them in red states call themselves conservative. Gillibrand when she was running in upstate New York used to call herself the most conservative Democrat in the House. The most left wing caucus in the House call themselves the Progressive Caucus. Hilary when asked during one of the debates in '08 whether she is liberal, said that she prefers being called progressive. I think CNN needs to stop asking people to self-identify as liberals and use the term progressives instead.
Even I wouldn't describe myself as a liberal because liberalism is a right wing ideology, and I'm certainly no right-winger.
