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<p>Which I guess is due to the somewhat politically balanced student body- even if they are a little left they may gravitate to a moderate over a Democrat. Then again, maybe things would have been different if McCain had won the Republican ticket.</p>
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<p>I don’t really think that maybe leaning one way and pushing students towards a certain end of the spectrum really constitutes indoctrination. Certainly many people in college have enough freedom to take some action if any member of the faculty is making life difficult for people by imposing a political viewpoint. </p>
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<p>Well, the people who tend to be liberal tend to be more free-thinking. Without trying to be too disparaging or simplistic towards either side, liberalism usually entails openness to new ideas and conservatism implies the opposite, even if its reaction to liberalism is cautionary but well-intentioned. Although this is a bit simplistic, if you’re a researcher working with stem cells and right-to-lifers are trying to make your work needlessly complicated, which side are you going to support? Which side are sympathizing colleagues going to favor?</p>
<p>It’s unfortunate to see that environmentalists or others in the left, however, do not tolerate any sort of opposition, especially from within. But I think the underlying reason is this: dissent from within will allow the opposition to undermine their current stance. Although Lindzen can probably bring up a strong argument against them, any sort of affiliation with energy companies or anyone opposing the idea of global warming could be used to undermine whatever he has to say, unfortunately.</p>
<p>tl;dr nowhere is perfect.</p>