Leftist extremism has shrunk the number of moderates in the Democratic Party according to a new Gallup poll, widening the gap between the parties.

From Breitbart:

In 2001, just after the departure of President Bill Clinton, self-identified moderates claimed 47 percent of the party, while liberals were only at 30 percent.

In 2016, the numbers had flipped to put moderates at 41 percent, and liberals at 44 percent. That was a large 20-point shift, including a 12-point shift during President Barack Obama’s two terms.

Nowhere does this trend play out better than in Congress, where the once 34-member "Blue Dog Coalition" of moderate Dems has shrunk to a low 17 as of this January. So much for the party of Kennedy. 

This translates into the national arena as well, with fewer and fewer Americans checking the "moderate" box. In 1994, roughly 43 percent of Americans identified identified as moderate; that has now dwindled to 34 percent as of 2016. Contrarily, self-identified liberals have seen an uptick from 17 percent to 25 percent. 

Gallup concluded this disparity "represents a hardening of political polarization between the two major parties."

"With most Republicans already identifying as conservative and more Democrats identifying as liberal, the parties are moving further apart ideologically," the organization reported. 

Worse still, the number of "conservative" Americans has remained relatively steady over 24 years at 36 percent, reaching a high-point of 40 percent in 2010. Only 10 percent of Republicans identify as liberal.  

"The sharp increase in liberals among white Democrats, from 32% in 2001 to 50% in 2016 — has created more ideological separation between white and nonwhite Democrats," concluded Gallup.