The GOP is a regional party

[oldhat]

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o193/noahyzimmerman/Blog_GOP_Favorable_2009_09_18.jpg

Shine on, you crazy wingnuts.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_09/020010.php

[Tsukasa Buddha]

A book came out a while back about our moving trends to be sort of self-segregating more-so than in the past. Can't remember the name. But it is concerning.

[Peephole]

Ouch, that Midwest figure especially is going to hurt them.

[Sporanox]

Before you celebrate, let's see the approval for Dems. Or, better yet, let's just look at the approval rating of Congress.

The point is, a lot of conservatives don't like the GOP leadership.

[linusrichard]

I like how the three that aren't the south look like little middle fingers.

[linusrichard]

Before you celebrate, let's see the approval for Dems.

Ask, and ye shall receive.

http://www.msu.edu/~banghar4/dems.JPG

So that means we can celebrate, right?

[SezMe]

Before you celebrate, let's see the approval for Dems. Or, better yet, let's just look at the approval rating of Congress.

The point is, a lot of conservatives don't like the GOP leadership.
First, it's a Reseach 2000 poll for the Daily Kos so be careful how much weight you put on it. To answer your question, Sporanox, go here (http://www.dailykos.com/weeklytrends) and click on the Party tab on the graphic. It does not give a regional breakdown but the Dems have +30 points on the Reps as a whole.

[Sporanox]

First, it's a Reseach 2000 poll for the Daily Kos so be careful how much weight you put on it. To answer your question, Sporanox, go here (http://www.dailykos.com/weeklytrends) and click on the Party tab on the graphic. It does not give a regional breakdown but the Dems have +30 points on the Reps as a whole.

Hah, you're right. Daily Kos it is, yet the discrepancy is so huge it almost makes me feel sorry for the Beltway leadership...

[linusrichard]

Or, better yet, let's just look at the approval rating of Congress.

Hey, as long as I have Excel open already...

http://www.msu.edu/~banghar4/cong.JPG

The point is, a lot of conservatives don't like the GOP leadership.

Sure, who does?

[gtc]

There is a big difference between the South and the rest of the nation but there is also a big difference between the North East and the other two Dem leaning regions. On every measure shown in the Kos article the Nth East is noticably more disposed towards the Democrats and noticably less supportive of the Republicans. However, I'm not sure if the differences are statistically significant.

[daenku32]

I like how the three that aren't the south look like little middle fingers.

I thought the same thing.

[Dancing David]

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o193/noahyzimmerman/Blog_GOP_Favorable_2009_09_18.jpg

Shine on, you crazy wingnuts.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_09/020010.php


Well, that shows the meaning of lumping samples.

In Illinois, firmly in the Midwest, we are dominated by the Republican party in most parts of the state, most counties and most cities and towns. Now Dick Durbin is a good example of a red dog democrat, he is an old fashioned centrsit conservative Democrat. He used to get elected because of his conservative values, now he gets elected for other reasons.

I mention him because he is a good example of 'downstate' politics. there are pockets of extreme liberalism in the state but by and large the politics are mainly conservative and Republican. many Dems are conservative as well.

Now Chicago and the collar counties are very interesting, there is a large Democratic party there but most of the poltics are conservative in the collar counties and suburbs.

[Whiplash]

I feel sorry for people who insist on believing that current political reality is going to remain fixed and unchanged for the entirety of human existence. I'm sure there was just as damning figures during the height of Reagan's popularity. It didn't destroy the Democrats in the long run. The Republican's aren't going anywhere.

It could also be a mindset that the only thing that keeps the Republican's down is their own crazy ideas, as opposed to the Democrats ending up being able to squander another opportunity and turn people back against them again for a while. I know, that could never happen, right?

[hgc]

I feel sorry for people who insist on believing that current political reality is going to remain fixed and unchanged for the entirety of human existence. I'm sure there was just as damning figures during the height of Reagan's popularity. It didn't destroy the Democrats in the long run. The Republican's aren't going anywhere.

It could also be a mindset that the only thing that keeps the Republican's down is their own crazy ideas, as opposed to the Democrats ending up being able to squander another opportunity and turn people back against them again for a while. I know, that could never happen, right?


I agree -- up to a point. I remember election night '92, when Clinton won and the Dems held solid majorities in Congress. The GOP looked like dead ducks. Then 2 years later they took both houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years, and Clinton looked like a lame duck. Then 2 years later (after he played Newt like a fiddle), Clinton was king of the hill again. I'm sure that the GOP will find a way to recapture some portion of the middle, and become a power again.

But for the life of me, I can't figure out how they're going to re-emerge. The party is solidly in the hands of its far-right wing. The demographics of the party appeal and the country at large are going in opposite directions. The biggest advantage is the GOP continues to show winning ways in how, with Dem control of presidency and Congress, they can still stop the big policy agenda and make the Dems look look like weak sisters (health care reform being gutted into a pile of dung, before our very eyes). A winning attitude is infectious. I predict, as of this point, that GOP will gain seats in Congress in 2010, but not come anywhere close to capturing either house. They will win governors races too. This is unless Obama can find a way to convince the country that he's crushing their balls.

[JihadJane]

Excuse my ignorance but I thought all the Democrats lived in the United States of Canada and the Republicans in Jesusland.

[Magyar]

I agree with both of these statements but only to the extent that - The Republicans aren't going anywhere. the same way that nazi and communists aren't going anywhere. "Traditional" conservatism is going to disappear as a main force just like the other 2 relics of political thought mentioned above. This, I think is largely due to the second part of your statement
It could also be a mindset that the only thing that keeps the Republicans down is their own crazy ideas

ANY which way you cut it, the republican party is becoming more right - especially when compared to the rest of the world - and there really is not any centrist (at least who have any power).

I think a large reason for this is that the Republican ideals etc only exist in a bubble that is America. Most people don't recognize this bubble because it has been a far longer one than any other. It was possible because on the expansion that was possible in no other place in the world but the US 'till the 1920s. While there was a small hiccup in the 30's. WWII allowed the bubble to continue to the 70's and it has been a slide down hill since then. - YEA YEA I know the Repub meme about more millionaires and more wealth creation since yada ya - and while it's good for THEM it is also mostly on paper and it is NOT good for the country.


Whether it will happen in the short run or the long. The US will either go more left like the rest of Europe - not necessarily the same way but in the same general flavor - or it will go the way of Mexico and other countries like it where there will still be "free market" and the upper class, but they'll live in compounds and the rest of us will dig through the garbage heaps.

[JihadJane]

The US will either go more left like the rest of Europe - not necessarily the same way but in the same general flavor - or it will go the way of Mexico and other countries like it where there will still be "free market" and the upper class, but they'll live in compounds and the rest of us will dig through the garbage heaps.

Let's hope it is the former though the latter is probably more likely. The top 5% is very rich and well-armed.

The bubble pampered US has a lot of painful waking up to do.

[negativ]

I've got $1 that says nearly all the Republican candidates in 2010 will tailor their campaigns directly to the town hall yellin' crowd. When 75% of the electorate is utterly turned off by them and they lose again (or at least don't win as big as they fantasize they will), they will blame the "liberal media" and everyone else except themselves. If you think the right wing is out of it's friggin mind now, just wait until Election Day +1, 2010.

[Upchurch]

I feel sorry for people who insist on believing that current political reality is going to remain fixed and unchanged for the entirety of human existence. I'm sure there was just as damning figures during the height of Reagan's popularity. It didn't destroy the Democrats in the long run. The Republican's aren't going anywhere.
I think you're misinterpreting what these numbers mean. No one here, I don't think, is suggesting that what is happening now will last forever.

What these numbers mean is that, at the current time and for important issues de jour (the economy, health care, our activities in the middle east, etc.) the Democrats represent the positions that most people, in 3 of 4 regions, want.

Before you get too busy looking down your nose and feeling sorry for people, you should at least understand what is being said first.

[Chaos]

I agree -- up to a point. I remember election night '92, when Clinton won and the Dems held solid majorities in Congress. The GOP looked like dead ducks. Then 2 years later they took both houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years, and Clinton looked like a lame duck. Then 2 years later (after he played Newt like a fiddle), Clinton was king of the hill again. I'm sure that the GOP will find a way to recapture some portion of the middle, and become a power again.

My memory of the time is a bit hazy, but I seem to recall that, back then, the Republican Party wasn´t quite as determined to commit political suicide as they are now.

[Darth Rotor]

My memory of the time is a bit hazy, but I seem to recall that, back then, the Republican Party wasn´t quite as determined to commit political suicide as they are now.
Whigs, version 2.0? :confused: