A new CNN poll includes plenty of results one might expect at this point: President Obama's approval rating looks steady at 52%; the public strongly prefers the president to congressional Republicans when it comes to the major issues of the day; most Americans want to see GOP officials compromise in the fiscal talks, etc.
But there was another tidbit that stood out for me.
Two years ago, shortly before the 2010 midterms, the poll asked respondents whether the parties were "too extreme" or "generally mainstream." At the time, Republicans enjoyed a noticeable edge -- 42% of respondents said Democrats are too extreme, while only 36% said the same thing about the GOP.
Now, the numbers have flipped -- most Americans (57%) believe Democrats are mainstream, while a majority (53%) also sees Republicans as too extreme. This is the first time a CNN poll found most Americans considering either party too extreme.
It's one thing for voters to think you're wrong; it's worse when they think you're radical.
That has to be discouraging for GOP leaders, who just spent a year trying to put their best foot forward during the election season. Of course, these figures may get worse if/when the fiscal talks collapse due to Republican intransigence, and GOP leaders threaten to crash the economy on purpose in the new year during another debt-ceiling crisis.
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...who just spent a year trying to put their best foot forward during the election season...
Is that the RomneyNoBabyRape47%F#ckTheIllegalsMagicMathSupressTheVotePartyBeforeCountry Foot? That was their best foot?
Sadly, yes, yes it was :/
They need philosophical orthopedic shoes
GOP Get thee to a Podiatrist!
largenose - You beat me to it! If THAT was supposed to be their "best" - surely we're already in hell!
They've never had anything other than "I've got mine, screw you!" since they paid John Wilkes Booth to kill the only really good Republican President. (Sorry, the runner-up, T.R., was a raving white supremacist the-only-good-Indans-are-dead-so-let's-kill-Cubans Imperialist).
That IS their best foot...
I don't think Republicans realize that other people are watching when they pander to their extreme base, and those other people are watching from a Fox free vantage point.
Maybe someday Republicans will realize that the Fox News demographic might be enought for Fox News to enjoy terrific ratings and great advertizing review for a cable channel, but it isn't big enough to win elections.
We need a Frank Luntz on the left who can put this in a set of conccrete party line works. The GOP uses this stuff effectively, things like "job killing".
So what is the standard terms for this?
Radical ideology
Extreme policies
Perhaps Rachel is the person who needs to develop these Message Control Central edicts for the Left. Even though she failed with the Tanantino, take another shot at this.
try the truth.
"Far right radical revolutionaries." There's a one-word synonym for that.
Fascists.
As an educator I have found that repetition is the key to learning. When I teach a subject testing shows that 70% of the learning evaporates in 24 hours without reinforcement.
If you want someone to believe something you must tell them over and over and over. For 30 years the GOP has said, "Taxes kill jobs" and have successfully lowered taxes for the wealthy.
The truth of the matter is has very little to do with whether it is believed or not. Unfortunately.
Two tings: 1) If, in Sept of '10, the public thought that Dems were "extreme", then the public isn't the font of all wisdom (obviously). And, 2) Then, it was close enough to the elections, to influence the outcome; now... by 14, they'll have changed their minds again, what with an expected spate of well-financed anti-Dem campaign of ads.
I wish I could draw some cheer from this chart, but I'm having a hard time of it.
This isn't about the next election. It's about what the GOP will decide to do about the fiscal cliff this month or next.
And of course those anti-Dem ads will include how them Anti-American librul's wanted to take your God-given guns away.
Mike, what the GOP does has pretty much nothing to do with anything other than surviving the primaries in 2014. That in turn has virtually nothing to do with the welfare of the country or national opinion polls.
"CNN poll? Bah, it's obviously skewed!"
This won't matter to them a whit. They just had the ultimate poll, the elections, and you see how much that matters to them in these negotiations.
The problem for the right-wing coalition is, each individual policy is not actually supported by a majority of voters. Fiscal conservatives "go along" with social conservatives in order to get their support on each other's issues.
But even that is not enough--they need to fool or scare a certain percentage of moderates into thinking that the conservatives are right, or that the liberals are "too scary." When that fails, because the truth becomes apparent, then the coalition falls apart.
And sadly, while the old republican leadership realizes what is going on, there is absolutely nothing they can do to prevent their own situation from getting even worse. They supported the tea party and the religious fundies because they needed the ground troops, but then the "ground troops" got out of control. Now there is nothing that the "leadership" can do to bring the flunkies back into line. This is what happens when faith is substituted for knowledge.
Reality is real. That's kind of its key feature. It doesn't care if you don't like it. - Rock Diva
It is the same thing time and again. The US supported the mujahideen in Afghanistan and got al Qaeda. The Israelis supported Hamas to counteract the PLO and look what happened. The Gulf Cartel used the Zetas to do their dirty work and it backfired on them. If you create a monster, you can be sure that eventually it will turn on you.
I picture the tea potty with their hands over their ears screaming 'blah, blah, blah, abortion, blah blah, job creators, blah blah, Israel', never hearing the people or studying the issues from non-Reaganomic fact-based directions. Their policies have failed for years to improve anything but their friend's bottom lines. Selfish is the kindest word I would attribute to them.
If this is supposed to be their best, then be afraid, very, very afraid!
The republicans are to extreme! They want the rich to get richer, and take away our benefits!!!!!!!
That "best foot " tastes yummy, I'll bet ;-)
Husband & I registered to vote in FL, same day, me as "Independent", him as "Democrat". Guess which one is still waiting for his voter registration card? The "Democrat" of course. I've had mine for weeks. Maybe they think if they don't process it, we'll forget about our RIGHT to vote. Gotta love the red states.
So when is CNN going to fire Erick Erickson and his RedState hate speech?
Yeee gods.... another poll from the "Bagdhad Bob" network. Just as bad as an nbc poll.
Yeah, Why at-
You are one of the ones who made Republican half a word.
The GOP has squandered their congressional majority by putting forth the tea party agenda which still has a deep, if not wide, appeal. As long as Republicans are held hostage by a vocal, passionate group of zealots, they will continue to be seen as extreme.
A further two years experience of Republican antics just might have something to do with these results...
The GOteaP has failed the Voight-Kampff test.
My conservative Republican friends keep trying to convince me that the GOP reflects their values and that the Democrats are too extreme and too liberal. Unfortunately for them, when you look at what they say are their values and what the GOP seems to be promoting, the two do not match up. I hope the Dems stand firm on this fiscal cliff issue because there is no working with the majority of those holding spots in Congress on the right side of the aisle.
The President must not capitulate when it comes to the fiscal agreement. Should he back off or otherwise create the appearance of giving in, he will lose any advantage he currently has in future negotiations.
53% sees Republicans as too extreme. The GOP sees this as a win, not a loss.
These are the same politics that occurred after the 1st Great Depression, the Bush Depression and the insane politics that created it isn't going to be much different. Let the Republiturds destroy their own party if they want to, maybe they will go back and learn how to actually add and subtract again, and realize that people, Americans are important to a strong economy and not just the profits of the rich.
Tell me in 6 months to a year, after all the taxes the Dems want to hike on EVERY person & EVERY business - small & big - not just the filthy rich. THEN, all those who voted for Obama tell me who's the ones that are (1) killing jobs, (2) putting more people on welfare, (3) exploiting the poor/middle class, (4) taking more and more money out of your paycheck, while leaving less and less for you and your family. Then tell me how 'great' the Demonrats are.
...and Obama wants to take away our guns and put tracking devices in our chill'drens heads.
I used to be a democrat.My alienation with them is much like the stories of Charlton Heston and Ronald Reagan.The party left me. Its not the party of the downtrodden nor the common man.They are corporate cronies like the GOP.They represent reverse racism, a war on men, open borders, disdain for Christians, and more.They seek to stick their tentacles into every area of life from what you eat to what you say.Political Correctness running amuck, mainly a democratic thing.Spending on wasteful and trivial nonsense is about to bankrupt a nation but you need more.How much more? Give me a number, a percentage.Will this magic number create a utopia? Throwing money doesn't always solve problems.Also just quit with the "green" hypocrisy, its ridiculous.Your Hollywood buds, shut the Hades up and make your crappy movies!! We don't give a flying fornication about your views! Lastly, the democratic party of today is nothing more than Marxist .A european socialist at the very least.You seek to squelch free speech and squash freedom on a global scale.
So logic dictates you are getting ready to switch over from being a republican because everything you just pointed out, they are now doing?
No its "progressives" doing the above described. Not that the GOP is anything close to perfect but the democrats have no common ground with working class white men from the south, the midwest or the far west.Its the party of the Northeast and California mostly.
Blue states are broke, crime riddled "whineries".
And yet you see common sense coming from the Republicans?
the dems don't have there tentacles in women's vagina's .or who we have sex with or who we marry or who can serve the country. because that's kinda the gop's territory huh...did i see you on moonshiners the tag seems familiar..
except white guys in wisconsin, michigan , ohio pennysvania, illinois colorado new mexico nevada, iowa, minnesota, virginia...and north carolina and indiana in 08. youre right pillbillie well except tfor those thirteen states ...i know there was only 13 when you were in school...
The CNN poll was skewed with too many democrats queried, said my friends Carl and Dick, oh, and Rush and Sean, too.
Mitt might even agreed with them, too, especially after what he learned about polling (on Nov 7th).
so there i am minding my own business having a drink when carl (rove) bumps into me. and he's all like stumbling around spilling his drink and slurring his speak ..then he starts , hey....u...ohio did mitt win...so i'm all like carl it almost christmas give it up...and he looks me up and down with his puppy dog face and saids, Oh... and he walked off. well at least that was how i remembered my dream