DCPolitics

Are “Republicans” Missing Their Marks?

NEW STUDY BREAKS DOWN U.S. ELECTORAL LANDSCAPE By FITSNEWS  ||  This website keeps regular tabs on party identification trends – i.e. the percentage of the electorate classifying themselves as either “Republican,” Democrat or independent.  And yes, we put quotes around the word “Republican” because we believe the GOP is habitually hypocritical…

NEW STUDY BREAKS DOWN U.S. ELECTORAL LANDSCAPE

By FITSNEWS  ||  This website keeps regular tabs on party identification trends – i.e. the percentage of the electorate classifying themselves as either “Republican,” Democrat or independent.  And yes, we put quotes around the word “Republican” because we believe the GOP is habitually hypocritical when it comes to the less government, more freedom rhetoric its politicians espouse (prior to cashing in on their betrayal to special interests).

Despite the lack of distinction between parties on the bread and butter, dollars and cents issues that should matter most to voters,  party identification remains a big deal from an electoral science standpoint.  Even as the number of self-identified “Republicans” and Democrats shrinks, these two voter pools serve as a starting point for answering the only two questions politicians and their advisors care about during a competitive election: 1) Where are the votes?  2) How do I get them?

You know, as opposed to their usual two questions: 1) Where is the money? 2) How do I spend it?

Anyway … there’s a wonderful new partisan identification study out this month from Norman Analytics and Research (prepared for the Market Research Foundation) that does a deep dive into the current partisan/ ideological composition of the U.S. electorate.

The Norman-MRF study – dubbed “Analysis of Party Self-Identification in America” – is a must-read for any 2014 campaign.  Not only is it chock full of data providing critical snapshots of where partisan and ideological leaners are on various issues matrices (economic, education/ health care and moral), but it offers some brilliant insights into the fissures and fault lines within each party.

Let’s start with the top line, though …

According to the Norman-MRF research, 45 percent of voters self-identified as independent – a number consistent with other polling.  By contrast, only 17 percent aligned with “Republicans” compared to 28 percent who aligned with Democrats.

Of course there is no real “Democratic edge” because – according to the researchers – “the country has a definite preference for conservative policies when it comes to the economy.”

“Two-thirds of America prefers non-liberal economic policies with 37 percent favoring conservative strategies,” the reports authors noted. “Nearly the same number of Americans prefer non-liberal policies on education and healthcare.”

In other words the ideological landscape of the country favors the GOP – except on moral issues.  There, 36 percent of the country described itself as “liberal” compared to 23 percent who went with “moderate.”

That’s further confirmation of our belief that most Americans are looking for a party that will stay out of their pocketbooks and their personal lives – a choice they currently lack.

The Norman-MRF report further elucidates the fissures that could ultimately lead to the collapse of the two-party system (if we’re lucky).

“Self-Identified Democrats are more likely to support liberal economic policies, but even in this group very few unilaterally support specific liberal economic policies,” the study found.

Specifically, the report found that thirty-one percent of Democrats “defected” on the issue of government spending – while 21 percent broke from their party platform on immigration.  Meanwhile a full third of Republicans disagreed with their party’s stance on the issue of gay marriage.

Spotting a trend?  Here’s the key question, though:  Republicans are clearly already counting the tax dollars associated with their imminent takeover of the U.S. Senate, but have they counted the votes correctly?

The GOP is “misappropriating its GOTV efforts on folks who are going to vote no matter what,” one Washington, D.C. strategist told FITS – pointing to the section of the Norman-MRF report dealing with voter turnout.

“Republican campaigns that engage in aggressive turnout efforts while simultaneously highlighting liberal economic stances of their opponents are very likely to be successful,” the report’s authors noted.

But there’s a caveat …

Given the GOP’s toxicity to many social liberals – and to some fiscal conservatives as well – winning GOP campaigns shouldn’t necessarily embrace the “Republican” brand.  Instead, the study’s authors argued they should target turnout efforts to “support individual candidates rather than the Republican Party or its entire platform.”

To read the report in its entirety, CLICK HERE … 

***

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18 comments

SC Political Digest October 22, 2014 at 9:27 am

DELUSIONAL, DENIAL DEMOCRATS…There’s your new motto…LMAO…La-La Land for sure…Twilight Zone…

Go over to SCPSD for a shot of REALITY you idiot. AP is on suicide watch because it is looking so bad. In 9 of 11 MAJOR issues, the economy being No. 1 –you are getting your @$$#$ kicked..in the polls…You have even LOST Women…ISIS, Terrorism, Ebola, healthcare…the voters don’t trust you…your actions have caught up with you. People are not listening to the media Lie for your Stupid @$$#$ anymore…

It’s EXACTLY what I old you fools years ago… (:

And you are over here trying to console your fellow @$$holes and imbeciles that the GOP is “missing the mark”…

PS: And Annie Lennox – the queen of feminism – is calling Beyoncé a slut, for corrupting children w// sleaze…HILARIOUS..Read all about RELEVAENCE on SCPSD…

Reply
grandtangosuglydog October 22, 2014 at 10:48 am

If you are so happy with your crappy no one views blog Emily, how come you spend all day on this site insulting people? Still waiting for that first friend? That first kiss that first date?..small suggestion..get rid of the crazy bitch hate and be nice once in a while. Who am i kidding, you are a dark hole of hate and will be alone till the day you die.

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Waisting my time October 22, 2014 at 11:31 am

You forgot to remind her to take her medicine. And use Spell Check. And, never, ever, leave the house.

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SC Political Digest October 22, 2014 at 11:55 am

Go straight to the lunatic voices that help you hang on…LMAO…not surprising…and classic liberal.

Don’t fret…the AP is having as much trouble w/ it, as you Dumb@$$#$…

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grandtangosuglydog October 22, 2014 at 11:58 am

Still hanging around this site instead of your own ghost town blog Emily? Is that the stench of failure I smell every time i see you posting here instead of your own tumbleweed site? Yeppers sure smells like failure. I guess its time to admit you failed at your site and back to the 24hr trolling on this site huh dark hole?

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grandtangosuglydog October 22, 2014 at 11:59 am

Most people in the country have a job Emily but apparently not you. Trust fund or welfare?

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idcydm October 22, 2014 at 10:00 am

Bloggers trolling for hits remind me of ambulance chasers.

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Tunes'n'News October 22, 2014 at 10:24 am

Report is spot on. Locally, things may greatly differ. Nationwide and statewide in many places, spot on.

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Centrist View October 22, 2014 at 10:49 am

To summarize:

“You cannot have a conservative government with a liberal culture.”
Mark Steyn
http://www.steynonline.com/6598/conservative-government-in-a-liberal-culture

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Bible Thumper October 22, 2014 at 11:14 am

——“In other words the ideological landscape of the country favors the GOP – except on moral issues.  There, 36 percent of the country described itself as “liberal” compared to 23 percent who went with “moderate.”—-

Could you explain where you found the data quoted above? From figure 6 (Moral Issues Score) of the report the breakdown for “strong conservative”, “conservative”, “moderate”, “liberal”, “strong liberal” is as follows:
Total 6% 27% 35% 25% 7%
Republican 15% 43% 29% 12% 0%
Independent 5% 23% 38% 28% 6%
Democrat 3% 23% 30% 29% 15%

It seems even to me they are evenly divide and there is more division among Democrats than Republicans.

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Bill October 23, 2014 at 10:56 am

The numbers are fake, so don’t try to make sense of them. As Nitrat pointed out these are just numbers for the Kochsuckers to use.

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Terry October 22, 2014 at 11:34 am

I wonder what symbol Republicans will use for their Party when the Elephant finally goes extinct?. Maybe the party and the elephant will die out about the same time, and they want have to worry about it.

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Bible Thumper October 22, 2014 at 11:37 am

The Democrats will always have the “Jackass”.

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Terry October 22, 2014 at 12:31 pm

Yea, thats ok, I actually think the donkey is a excellent avatar for the average American. Stubborn, hard to break, hard working, and able to carry a huge load on his back.

You do realize that the word jackass was just a way to distinguish a male donkey from a female donkey?. Males were Jacks and females were Jennys. Only in small schoolboy minds does it mean anything else.

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nitrat October 23, 2014 at 10:43 am

What do you expect from a Bible Thumper?
He probably went to a Christian academy and Bob Jones.

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Tom October 22, 2014 at 12:54 pm

Such BS. All this says is the vast majority of Americans are middle class moderate independents. Who would have guessed that?

Americans are looking for solutions to the problems they face. They are not looking for a party that will do nothing and leave them alone to continue down the path to poverty set in motion during the 1980s. We are not a libertarian nation.

Since the mid-80s the middle class has lost all the wealth it accumulated from 1940 through 1980. They have gone from a country of people confident in their place in the world, confident they can find a job, confident they can support their family, and confident they will not have to live in poverty in retirement, to a country of people who are looking over their shoulder, waiting to lose their job, and uncertain what the future holds. Worried about how they will live in retirement. If they can ever retire.

I believe this is the result of the disastrous supply side trickle down economic policies the country has been engage in since the Reagan era. And the constant attack on Social Security and Medicare by Republicans. We have focused all our efforts on making the rich richer in the hope they would become so rich their bowls would overflow and the rest of us could hang out at their feet and catch the wealth falling all around us. Now we are shocked to find most of the rich don’t give a crap about the rest of the country, and are perfectly capable of buying larger and larger bowls. Somthing people of the late 1800s and early 1900s would be shocked to think we did not know. “I owe the public nothing.” J. P. Morgan 1901.

One could easily construct a platform 65%+ of Americans would agree on, but neither of the parties would support, because their far right and far left wings would not support it and the Koch Brothers would oppose it; because it would make middle class stability and wealth the center of government policy. Then the rich would still get richer just not quite as fast, the middle class would get richer instead of poorer, and the poor would be better off, because the middle class is more charitable than the mega-wealthy.

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nitrat October 23, 2014 at 10:23 am

When you say Republicans may be missing their ‘marks’, do you mean like ‘saps’ and ‘suckers’?

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nitrat October 23, 2014 at 10:41 am

Market Research Foundation….when a website starts talking ‘free market’, I think we can safely assume they are a Koch front.

And, Norman Analytics and Research are not anywhere to be found on the interwebs?

Erin Norman, author of this 12 page study (including title page):
Experience
Assistant to Vineet Jain
Egnyte · 2012 – Present
Marketing Coordinator / Project Manager
Coldwell Banker – Rod Creason Real Estate · 2010 – 2012
PR Intern / Social Media Intern
Crowded Ocean · 2010 – 2010 –

But, buxom Erin has long dark hair …I guess that gives her all the experience that a libertarian needs. LOL.

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