Republican rebranding will not be easy. A new Gallup Poll finds a wide range of voters — even rank-and-file Republicans — believe Republicans are unwilling to compromise. The Democrats remain saddled with the longtime criticism, that they spend too much. But this suggests a rockier road ahead for GOPes then Dems:
As Republican leaders openly scrutinize their party after a 2012 election that was disappointing for them, rank-and-file Republicans, independents, and Democrats voice the same primary criticism of the GOP: it is “too inflexible” or “unwilling to compromise.” When asked to say what they most dislike about the Republican Party, 26% of Republicans, 17% of independents, and 22% of Democrats offer this critique — leading all other mentions.
The problem for the GOP is that this is almost a systemic flaw now. The unwillingness to compromise stems from factors such as Grover Norquist, the gerrmandering of Repugblican congressional districts so older and conservative voters greatly dominate, the influence of the Tea Party movement and political whip-crackers such as Sarah Palin who encourage primary challenges against Republicans who reach across the aisle, the Fox News and talk radio political culture which portrays compromise as caving or political treason and consensus as something wusses the the supposedly “mushy middle.” Here’s Gallup’s chart:
More info on why Republicans are not totally happy with their party — and evidence of the split:
Among Republicans, the criticism that their party is too rigid in its approach is partially offset by the views of a sizable minority, 14%, who say the Republican Party gives in too easily or doesn’t stand up for its positions. Relatedly, 6% say the party is dishonest or inconsistent in its positions.
Seven percent of Republicans mention that they dislike their party’s choice of candidates and/or leaders, echoing a public critique of the GOP recently advanced by Karl Rove, former political adviser to George W. Bush.
Essentially, then, Republicans are much more likely to criticize their own party for its style or approach than for its substance.
In terms of policy positions, the top criticism Republicans level at the GOP is that it supports too much government spending that increased the budget deficit, named by 4%. The top knock on Republicans by Democrats (20%) and independents (10%) is what they call the Republicans’ focus on the rich or protecting the wealthy at the expense of the middle class.
Other issue-based critiques of the GOP named by at least 3% of Democrats include its positions on social issues (8%), abortion (6%), immigration (4%), favoring big business (4%), and gay marriage (3%). An additional 4% cite the influence of religion on the party and 3% say it is too conservative. By contrast, in addition to spending, the only policy-oriented criticism that as many as 3% of Republicans level at their own party is its broad position on social issues (3%).
And Democrats?
Democratic President Barack Obama’s victory in November largely ratified the Democratic Party’s brand and approach to reaching out to voters, and that seems to be reflected in the high proportion of Democrats — 51% — who say there isn’t anything they dislike about their party or who offer no opinion. This contrasts with 33% of Republicans who can’t think of anything to criticize in their own party.
Still, that leaves roughly half of Democrats who name something. The most common responses are that their party supports spending too much/increasing the deficit (10%), poor leadership (6%), and putting too much emphasis on government entitlements (6%).
Also, but in contrast with the high proportion of Republicans saying this about their own party, 6% of Democrats say the Democratic Party is inflexible or not willing to compromise. At the same time, an equal percentage say it is too weak or compromises too much, and 4% say it is indecisive or can’t deliver results.
Republicans’ top criticism of the Democrats is government spending, mentioned by 23%, but about half as many mention the Democrats’ inflexibility (12%), their emphasis on entitlements (12%), poor leadership, including Obama specifically (12%), and support for big government (10%).
The Gallup chart:
Gallup also:
In Gallup’s conclusions they point out a way the GOP can rebranding without changing too much:
For almost every issue that some people (mostly Republicans) cite as positive about the Republican Party, others (mainly Democrats and independents) cite it as a negative. The negatives heavily outweigh the positives with respect to Republicans’ perceived rigidity and perceived support for the rich. In some cases, positive and negative mentions of the party’s positions roughly cancel each other out, including on abortion, immigration, and “economic policies.” However, the GOP enjoys a positive tilt in the balance of views about its support for lower spending, smaller government, lower taxes, and its general conservatism. This may indicate that a key to Republicans’ regaining favor with Americans is not necessarily to change their positions, but to be perceived as less dogmatic about them and willing to compromise to pass legislation. Of course, some Republicans oppose this position, including the 14% who say their party already compromises too much.
The problem here are the systemic constraints mentioned above. There is a strong segment of the Republican party that will not allow any compromise at all because they feel it’s selling out — and because as Rush Limbaugh often reminds listeners on issues the party has to win on issue. Plus Obama hatred. Some conservatives don’t seem to want to win and others continue to hurt the party’s image. Rebranding will not be easy.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.