Poll: Majority Of Moderate Republicans Thinks GOP Is Stuck In The Past
Democracy Corps, the polling firm that did the first survey on Rush Limbaugh that kicked off the whole Limbaugh strategy, is out with a new poll that offers a pretty fine-grained look at whether the Dem strategy is working.
Keeping in mind that this is a Dem firm, there are some fascinating numbers in here. First up are these, which show how unpopular Rush is and how far Dems and even independents are from Republicans on the Rush question:
By a nearly two-to-one ratio (57 to 32 percent) a majority of voters –- and independents -– say Limbaugh does not “share their values,” but Republicans are in a different world where, by two-to-one, they believe he shares them.
But the really key numbers, when it comes to the question of whether the general Limbaugh strategy is working, are these:
62 percent of voters, including a similar percentage of moderate Republicans, say that the Republican Party is embracing the “same old ideas and leaders it has relied on for the past 20 years” rather than seeking out new leaders and fresh ideas.
A majority of moderate Republicans thinks the GOP is stuck in the past. This points to a lesser-remarked-on aspect of the Limbaugh strategy: It’s not about literally persuading people that Rush is the GOP’s leader. It’s about tarring the party overall with Rush’s well-known brand of harsh, partisan, hidebound obstructionism and negativity. And it’s about using Rush to drive a wedge between conservative Republicans and moderate ones who want Obama to succeed.
While it’s true that Democracy Corps is heavily invested in the Limbaugh strategy succeeding, these numbers are nonetheless pretty eye-opening.
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Being stuck in the past is what conservatives do, isn’t it? A Forward looking conservative is an oxymoron.
If they push Steele out and Dawson becomes the RNC Chair, all bets are off as to their strategy for 2010. It will be divide and conquer.
cdw — hadn’t thought of it that way.
Just because the 62% of voters think the Republican Party is “embracing the same old ideas and leaders it has relied on for the past 20 years” doesn’t mean that’s necessarily a bad thing for them. And isn’t the rebuilding of the Republican Party supposed to go back and resurrect old conservative principles that have been forgotten?
And isn’t the rebuilding of the Republican Party supposed to go back and resurrect old conservative principles that have been forgotten?
How are we supposed to know? A. we’re not Republicans here, by and large. B. The Republicans themselves don’t know what direction to go in…
and I’m enjoying the h3ll out of it.
Moderate Republicans, if they do actually exist, need to jump off the rapidly sinking ship. Become independents. Leave the Republican party to the nutcases.
moderate republicans do exist, and by and large, they have jumped ship already. i gave up in 2004…
Here, here. I was a moderate Republican until 2004, too. Now I have no party affiliation. And I’m much happier.
Same here – I always saw myself as a centrist. Now I’m a Libertarian.
The republicans used to court the religious right – because it was a big voting block…. they humored them. But – now they are fielding candidates FROM there… and it is scary.
I could care less about gay marriage – let them get married, who cares – its about personal freedom. I also think abortion is ok… but I think it should be thought of as a “last resort” kind of thing. I am not FOR it, but I think it should be available.
I also think science should be judged on its merits… not by a bible or koran or other “holy” scripture.
At the same time… i wish for a little more fiscal restraint.
- Bob
CDW has the right of it. Fear of everything that doesn’t fit its narrow little worldview characterizes the conservative ‘mind.’ New ideas are especially scary, so we can safely ignore the possibility that the GOPers will ever come up with one.
Did any of you look at this poll?
1. small sample
2. misleading phrasing of what was said (Limbaugh, not someone I’m a big fan of, by the way). RL did not say he wanted President Obama’s economic policies generally to fail. Rather, he wants his policies that increase the size of government and the welfare state to fail. There’s a difference. The former phrasing makes it sound like Limbaugh wants *any* policy Obama forwards having to do with the economy to fail simply because it is President Obama proposing it. Rather, RL is taking a completely consistent (whether you agree or not) anti growth of government statement.
3. Note the bias in the poll organization (which one of the commenters above admits to). You wouldn’t have to ask someone if the democratic party is using old ideas. The answer is an undeniable yes. In truth, there are very few really new ideas (I will let you know some if you wish). The democratic party can recycle old failed ones because many supporters are not well versed in history. So we will have to repeat the same old failures and learn again. Tiresome.
STEELE,will be replaced by a known SEGREGATIONIST,KATON DAWSON.
Someone who belonged to an all white country club,up until 1 year ago,and said desegregation was the worst thing that ever happened to him.
GOP=SOUTHERN WHITE MALE+BIGOTRY+RACISM!!
Both of them?
.