Conservatives should not feel left out – you’re still the majority
I’ve mentioned the GWU Battleground Poll in the past and was recently wondering when the last time it was referenced here at RVO. Turns out that was more than three years ago! Time flies, but the most recent poll was done in Dec. 2012.
Here is the result for question D3. In a political and government view, conservatives are still the majority.
Those who define themselves as conservative when it comes to politics and government is still at 59 percent. Other than an interesting four point bump in Dec. 2009, the Very Conservative plus Somewhat Conservative numbers have remained just under 60 percent for quite some time. Here is a graphic I used back in 2009 to reference previous Battleground polls.
Remember, this poll is of registered voters who are at least somewhat likely to vote in the Nov. 2014 election. Other information from the poll. Again, this results are from Dec. 2012.
- 59 percent of respondents say were on the wrong track in this country.
- 44 percent say they are at least leaning Democratic for the 2014 Congressional election. 42 percent are at least leaning Republican.
The video review is below … and it’s now owned by Politico … but here is some additional background about the poll.
The POLITICO – George Washington University Battleground Poll is a national recognized, bipartisan political opinion survey focused on election politics in the United States. The poll is conducted by Republican pollster Ed Goeas of The Tarrance Group and Democratic pollster Celinda Lake of Lake Research Partners.
16 Comments
The website's content and articles were migrated to a new framework in October 2023. You may see [shortcodes in brackets] that do not make any sense. Please ignore that stuff. We may fix it at some point, but we do not have the time now.
You'll also note comments migrated over may have misplaced question marks and missing spaces. All comments were migrated, but trackbacks may not show.
The site is not broken.
Thanks, Steve, this gives me hope. However, words are always important to me. I am a fiscal conservative, but am not conservative on many social issues, so I am never sure how to answer this. I wonder if they define the terms. I tried to open, but could not see the whole interview questions. ?It certainly looks like a bipartisan poll, but I guess I’m just picky about the definitions.
Good point, Lynn. I believe most people are neither of this flavor or that. I too tend to be conservative on some issues and not conservative on others.
It is probably more about who you actually support vs. what you claim to be.
The question is, and has always specifically referenced, “politics and government” issues and not social issues. Maybe some people combine them, but I’ve always treated them as different.
I guess I just always question polls. ?An accurate poll will or should define the terms they use. With the War on Women waged by the Democrats, ?abortion, birth control, and healthcare issues became political issues. As for immigration issues, I have no idea which is conservative , moderate or liberal ?views. This is no reflection on your post. I am a sceptic. The only true poll is in the voting booth.
This is a whole series of interrelated issues that the Republicans should be defining themselves on.
Just saying that there is an arbitrary dollar figure where taxes should be levied at a higher rate is a red herring. It is a democrat natural contention point. Arguing for no taxes on the rich is a vote loser. Here is where there should be a flat tax argument that is fair.
I know that a lot of the conservatives will balk at this. The “just say no to everything” crowd is going to lose the next election and all of the ones after if they don’t embrace the sentiments of main street. A lot of people are hurting financially right now. The increases caused by Obamacare are hitting hard on the average American.
It is time for the Republican Party to stop looking like it represents only the interests of the monied and has a solid fiscal message for the conservatives who really are the core of this country.
News for the democrats is that they represent only liberals. Right now, I define a liberal as a taker. Enough taking!
?
Right because the Democrats have increased the wealth of the Wall Street crowd, the Corporate Bankers and the uber rich. Under President Obama the very rich have gotten richer and the middle class has damn near disappeared. Somehow we have to get the message out.?
The media is directly related to how conservatives and the GOP are viewed. When I’ve shown people that the Clinton administration moved the tax burden from corporations to individuals, and the Bush tax cuts absolutely reversed that trend, they look at me like I’m nuts, until I prove it to them with the tax data. Then they walk off confused. Lie to them enough, you warp the message and the truth.
On this we totally agree. Unfortunately, the 24 hour news coverage has only muddied the political coverage. ?On this I blame ?both sides of coverage. ?There is no focus on the big issues, the focus jumps from the issue of the day.
How does this poll of registered voters square with the results of the 2012 election held a month earlier? Obama got 332 electoral votes and Romney 206. Obama got 62.6M votes and Romney got 59.1M votes. The Conservatives elected Pres. Obama?
I believe it was the conservative non voters who “elected” ?bama.? Too much “Mormon as a cult” talk and the media/DNC portrayal of Romney as an uncaring multimillionaire.
?
I wonder how the same poll would run now, after the ?bamacare crash, the constant news about ?bama’s lie or later when the even more nasty parts of ?bamacare come to light?
The poll would have different results. You bet’cha!
My take-away from this is that conservatives do exist. The question is can those conservatives be translated into voting Republicans. The last election say last election say Republican voters stay home in droves. Whatever it was, conservatives could not cast their ballot for Romney. Obama won, not so much on merit as from the apathy of the conservatives. I have my own theories of why conservatives, mostly white males under 40, wouldn’t pull the trigger and vote at all.
The fact remains that the Republican Party needs to focus on not playing the democrat’s latest game but on actualizing those self-described conservatives into voting Republicans.
I agree with you, but how do the Republicans do that. There’in lies the rub…….
Yes. Part of the solution to that one will be for the Republicans to . . . I am totally open to suggestions.
…find members with testicular fortitude and have not succumbed to Congressional Stockholm Syndrome.