The incredible shrinking party
After the “autopsy” and rebranding this spring, the GOP declared the corpse to be alive and not really in need of any changes – particularly with regard to being viewed as abortion obssessed misogynists and racist. Pretty good strategy.
New polling shows a lot of conflicting data with the president’s approval around a two-year low and congressional disapproval at or near an all-time high. But one thing is clear: There are fewer and fewer people identifying as Republicans in America.
While identification with the Democratic Party is just 1 percent or so lower than it was when President Obama was re-elected, Republican Party ID has gone down from 29.1 percent of Americans polled to 23.3 percent.
What could the GOP possibly be doing to alienate people?
Could it be threatening a government shutdown? Making a hero out of George Zimmerman? Saying that 99 percent of undocumented young people are drug dealers? Running a Cheney? Defining success by all the repeals that they don’t pass?
No one can be sure. But that red line certainly isn’t showing the steady rise it did before the 2010 election.
Republican Party ID has gone down from 29.1 percent of Americans polled to 23.3 percent.
Bet the people leaving aren’t joining the IPoDers, either! But I’m not so sure that I’d view the fact that fewer people are IDing as Republicans as anything other than sheer embarrassment. I’m pretty certain most of these folks will pull GOP levers since in the Voting Booth, no one needs to know you’re a still a straight party ticket Republican.
Cassandra –
I think a strong argument could be made that it also shows a big opportunity for anyone willing to occupy the center of the political spectrum.
But support for Republican policies has gone to about 80%, regardless of what you call yourself. The high-water mark (or low-water mark if you prefer) was in 2010 when 80 senators including a majority of Democrats voted to extend the devastating 10-year reign of the Bush tax cuts, and the tide has not perceptibly receded since. The Republican party has planted its seed deep inside what’s left of the middle class. Even if the RNC turns out the lights and closes its doors, the modern conservative movement has been wildly successful; moreso than any political movement since the New Deal. Republicans have now given us our default assumptions about government and the economy. Republican ideas about government and the economy may outlive the GOP itself, carried on by permanently Republicanized Democrats.
Honestly, I don’t want to hear anymore about how doomed the GOP is until Dems start winning the House consistently.
Public polling does not back up that contention. Saying that Democrats vote for issues as if they were Republicans is a different thing from saying the population supports those votes.
Winning the House consistently won’t happen until 2022.
I think a strong argument could be made that it also shows a big opportunity for anyone willing to occupy the center of the political spectrum.
Maybe, but your first task would be to provide an argument that there is some party in power right now that is occupying the genuinely left political space. Because I’d *love* to know who the heck that is.
As Geezer notes, there is little recent polling that shows that Americans support R policies.
National Journal
CNN
And there are more — especially for individual policies. Even on the Public Option, the public overwhelmingly supported it, even though Democrats themselves (Tom Carper) dumped on it. The problem is finding enough Democrats in government who will support Democratic policies.
Puck has a point, but conservative policies are totally lacking in public support. Therefore, either the complete takeover of the government by corporations has been complete and we can all go home, or all of the GOPs “gains” are temporary at best.