Gallup yesterday posted the results of a very interesting poll that shows far more Americans self-identifying in a conservative direction than in a liberal direction. Brian Faughnan at Red State has it about right concerning the broad message of the poll:
I think it’s a growing distrust of what they view as the liberal agenda of this Congress and this president.
At the same time, when you break down the poll on an issue-by-issue basis, Rossputin makes a great case that on most issues Americans are tending to move in a libertarian direction. It’s hard to say how much the broad shift against environmental policies that harm the economy and against restrictive immigration policies are the result of our current economic situation versus a genuine ideological awakening, but there is reason for optimism.
No shift is bigger than the 10-point swing of more people acknowledging the government has too much power. But the 7-point upticks in a pro-life direction and against health care coverage as a government responsibility also are encouraging signs.
A particularly acute observation made by Gallup as a result of the mass of survey data:
And for those seeking to understand why the Republican Party suffered such major election losses, they may find that political ideology has very little to do with it.
What would this have to tell us about Mr. Curtis and the significance of his decision to leave the GOP behind?
The polling news, if generally true of Colorado as it is of the nation as a whole, would show that a candidate like Ryan Frazier is well in sync with the electorate and well-positioned to make a strong showing against appointed incumbent Senator Michael Bennet. As for Frazier or any other Republican candidate at the state or national level, Rossputin makes a point about 2010 campaign themes that ought not be ignored:
…namely that if they’re going to keep any focus on “social issues”, if they want to win elections they will have to make those issues secondary to issues of liberty, economic and otherwise.
I would add a caveat: In some districts and states, the GOP can make plenty of hay out of certain social issues by highlighting the Far Left push of Obama and the ruling Democrats as being out of touch. Politically speaking, though, if the overwhelming need to take a strong pro-liberty stance hasn’t become apparent enough by now, the new Gallup poll results should bring it into crystal clarity.
Pray for gridlock, 2010.
I think you’re probably aware that I voted third party last Nov. I did so because I simply could not cast a vote for McCain/Palin (mainly because of McCain). I was glad to see crotchety old warmongering Juan sent back to the Senate, but I knew that a McCain defeat likely meant the kind of liberal-leftist power grab that we are indeed now witnessing. We third-party conservatives got chided for not voting pragmatically, and all, but none of that swayed me. And I rather looked forward to fighting the Obamanoids tooth and nail.
One of the reasons I did was because the backlash you reference in your blog entry here was sure to occur. Obama would over-reach, and the electorate would react, swinging back to the right. At least that’s what I *beleived* would happen, so I am happy to see the results of this Gallup poll.
However, I am even more heartened, if Rossputin is correct in his analysis, so see the American electorate move in a more *libertarian* direction. Because that, ISTM, is what we need to curb *both* GOP and Democrat excesses.
Let us hope and pray that 2010 will be 1994. But more than that, let’s hope and pray that the country will move in a more libertarian and states-rights direction, and that the GOP has the sense to capitalize on it. Because if it doesn’t, I’m pretty certain there won’t be much of a future for the GOP.
I should add, however, that the one disconcerting thing to me about the Gallup poll is the apparent trend toward a more “libertarian” view on immigration. Rossputin notes that the survey doesn’t distinguish between legal and illegal immigration, and that might be a fatal flaw as to that question. I suspect there’s still much public antipathy to illegal immigration. I sure hope that’s the case, anyway.
As to *legal* immigration, I think most Americans don’t have a clue as to the deleterious demographic effects of the liberalized immigration policy Teddy Kennedy and others effected back in the 1960s, and Ross is simply wrong in a very PC sort of way when he writes that “legal immigration is a clear net benefit to our nation, not to mention that it’s our true foundation.” Both assertions are quite dubious, and I’m afraid that the American people will wake up to that fact only after it’s too late. It absolutely mystifies me why Europe’s experience isn’t instructive to us. Such is the blinding power, I guess, of political correctness and “proposition nation” nonsense.
“Let us hope and pray that 2010 will be 1994. But more than that, let’s hope and pray that the country will move in a more libertarian and states-rights direction, and that the GOP has the sense to capitalize on it. Because if it doesn’t, I’m pretty certain there won’t be much of a future for the GOP.”
Thanks for your frank comments. Typically I take time to pick on the things we disagree about. But in this case we certainly are on the same page.
Your foresight is to be commended. I didn’t agree with the tack you took during last year’s election, but I respected it. Now that we’re here, the focus has to be on making the best out of a bad situation. I do hope the backlash is both genuine and lasting. Now let’s defeat cap-and-tax, government health care, hate crimes victim discrimination, United Nations nonsense treaties, and the like. And move forward.