A newly released survey indicates that while many Americans believe that the views of the Democratic Party are “too liberal,” the Democrats are still perceived as being more “just about right” than Republicans. This is yet another indication that the Republican brand continues to viewed as being extreme and possibly elitist.
Don’t lose me here. The news isn’t the number of people who say that Democrats are “too liberal” or the number who say that Republicans are “too conservative.” Those people aren’t going to vote for those parties anyway. It’s those in the middle that we should be concerned about. Those are the swing voters – the people who decide elections. Now, thinking in those terms you will note that what’s more troubling for Republicans is the fact that the number who say that the views of the Republican party are “about right” has declined since the election. This is problematic for a party that is struggling to rebrand itself by searching desperately for a leader, a purpose, and a new way to connect with voters.
A quick look at the critically important bloc of Independent voters reveals a 13-point gap between the number who view the Democratic party views as “about right” and those who view the Republican party views the same way. This is another warning sign that those voters who dealt the GOP loses in 2006 and 2008 still have problems connecting ideologically with the party and its candidates.
Clearly, whatever we have been doing (or not doing) as a party is not working. Voters are still moving away from us, and time is running out. There is no doubt that the recent Ensign, Sanford and even the bizarre move by Palin over the weekend has hurt the way some voters view the Republican party. We are desperately in need of a new direction, a new strategy, and a leader that we can get behind that isn’t reactive, emotional, extreme or divisive.
Democrats Still Better Positioned Ideologically
Posted by Tyler Harber on Monday, July 6th, 2009 at 6:32 AM
A newly released survey indicates that while many Americans believe that the views of the Democratic Party are “too liberal,” the Democrats are still perceived as being more “just about right” than Republicans. This is yet another indication that the Republican brand continues to viewed as being extreme and possibly elitist.
Don’t lose me here. The news isn’t the number of people who say that Democrats are “too liberal” or the number who say that Republicans are “too conservative.” Those people aren’t going to vote for those parties anyway. It’s those in the middle that we should be concerned about. Those are the swing voters – the people who decide elections. Now, thinking in those terms you will note that what’s more troubling for Republicans is the fact that the number who say that the views of the Republican party are “about right” has declined since the election. This is problematic for a party that is struggling to rebrand itself by searching desperately for a leader, a purpose, and a new way to connect with voters.
A quick look at the critically important bloc of Independent voters reveals a 13-point gap between the number who view the Democratic party views as “about right” and those who view the Republican party views the same way. This is another warning sign that those voters who dealt the GOP loses in 2006 and 2008 still have problems connecting ideologically with the party and its candidates.
Clearly, whatever we have been doing (or not doing) as a party is not working. Voters are still moving away from us, and time is running out. There is no doubt that the recent Ensign, Sanford and even the bizarre move by Palin over the weekend has hurt the way some voters view the Republican party. We are desperately in need of a new direction, a new strategy, and a leader that we can get behind that isn’t reactive, emotional, extreme or divisive.