25 June 2009

Is the Republican party dying?


The graph above displays the favorable/unfavorable views of the Republican party, sorted by race. The data come from a telephone survey of 2400 adults conducted by Daily Kos, where the primary data are displayed. The tabular data were transformed into the above graph by Yglesias.

It's important to note that an unfavorable view of the Republican party did not a priori equate to a favorable view of the Democratic party. Among whites, 64% viewed the Republican party unfavorably, but 54% viewed the Democratic party unfavorably - and 62% viewed Nancy Pelosi unfavorably.

Having said that, these are still dreadful metrics for the Republicans. I certainly don't want our country to be dominated by one party, because absolute power corrupts absolutely. Perhaps we can hope that the intelligent, sensible Democrats will split from the stupid, irrational Democrats.

9 comments:

  1. This is one thing we can blame on Clinton. With him being a moderate (for the most part), the GOP felt the need to separate themselves further right. In doing so, the full out conservatives have taken over and alienated the rest of the party.

    The current incarnation of the party does need to die. Hopefully, a more moderate party can surface. Until then, I'm fine with being a "godless liberal."

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  2. I have little faith in the polling done by The Daily Kos especially when it fits their narrative but at least here it matches fairly well with Gallup (I didn't find the gallup racial group breakdown).

    However it is interesting to compare that poll with the recent Gallup poll on coservativism vs. liberalism.

    More on the parties not the ideology here.

    It is very interesting that there is such a gap between conservatism and the Republican party in the US (and this theme has been written about in increasing frequency between conservative and liberal) outlets.

    So if anyone wants to start a moderate/right leaning political party... now is your time.

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  3. I think the Daily Kos managed to get their little graph right, but failed to interpret the results. The reasons that the Republican Party is viewed so unfavorably is because Conservatives are disgusted with the GOP. For some reason, the GOP has felt that moving away from conservative values and principals equates with votes. The current incarnation of the GOP does need to die. Hopefully, a more conservative party can surface, returning to the values that got Reagan elected, a party that understands that fiscal responsibility, family values, a strong national defense, and has the courage to defend the concept of personal liberty as well as personal responsibility.

    The reason we're disgusted with Republicans is because they became moderate Democrats.

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  4. This Graph does nothing to explain the dominance of Fox News.

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  5. @Brian--family values. Whose values? Which family? And yes, this former Republican would really like to see the party go back to defending personal liberty instead of sticking their nose into everyone else's business and bedroom. The Republican Party needs to divorce itself from the fundamentalist Christians.

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  6. @Brian Kern: The reason we're disgusted with Republicans is because they became moderate Democrats.

    The reason we're disgusted with Republicans is because they're hypocrites and liars.

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  7. What intelligent, sensible Democrats ?

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  8. Danny,

    You proved my point exactly Danny. Thanks.

    Brian

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  9. I have to disagree with Brian also. The GOP got too conservative, not too moderate. If you think they are moderate, you are part of the problem.

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