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Drive-by news analysis from Team Frog Batshit Political Curator Lucky Bensonhurst
ITEM: Finally, something Democrat and Republican voters can agree on: they both hate Congressional Republicans.
That’s according to a poll from Quinnipiac University, which found that, overall, the majority of Republicans polled (56%) disapprove of their own party in Congress. Democrats, by contrast, are more overwhelmingly supportive of Congressional Democrats (63%).
More details at HuffPo.
We all know about polls, of course (though this is an academic poll, not an online Fox News poll, but still, polls eh?). But the results aren't really that surprising. Establishment Republicans running for Congress this year have been fighting off Tea Party challengers. And while many of the establishment candidates have been successful, some have lost. And pretty much all of my Republican colleagues tended to back the Tea Party person for the usual reason – namely, the Establishment GOP is too fucking liberal for them. They want Real Conservatives who will stand up to the tyranny of Lord Obama, not these pansy bleeding-heart moderates who talk about weak bullshit like compromise. FUCK COMPROMISE, JIM! OBAMA IS TOO DANGEROUS FOR COMPROMISE! NEVER GIVE IN! Et cetera.
Yes. Ha ha.
So in terms of approval/disapproval, it’s no surprise the GOP is getting hammered from their own side.
For the liberals tempted to make serious hay of this and predict the Democrats are going to kick ass in November, sorry kids, but no. They don’t stand a chance in the House this year and their odds of keeping the Senate are slim. The meaningful takeaway here is that the Tea Party still has a lot of clout, and isn’t going to go away quietly like John Boehner was perhaps hoping they would.
Which, ironically, is bad news for the GOP in the longer term, according to John A. Tures, political science professor at LaGrange College in Georgia, because polls also suggest that the Tea Party’s hardcore policies are not really very popular:
Perhaps. On the other hand, that also assumes that Republican voters who prefer an establishment candidate would rather vote Demo than vote for a Tea Party Republican. I’m not too convinced of that. Tures does say “long term”, but that could mean anywhere from four to 40 years. Given both current demographic realities and the prospect of President Hillary Clinton in 2016 – and Hillary can expect the same amount of cooperation from a GOP-controlled House and/or Senate that Glorious Leader Obama is getting now (which is to say, none whatsoever) – Repub voters will probably stick to the GOP for at least the next decade no matter how batshit they become. Better a dysfunctional batshit democracy than a Socialist dictatorship, eh Ted?
Either way, it does indicate weird times ahead for the GOP. It will spend the next few election cycles at war with itself and – I suspect – adopting more unpopular positions that they’ll back as long as it doesn’t hurt their overall election chances, if only because of voter inertia. In which case the GOP could possibly* go down in American history as the most successful political party with the lowest approval ratings ever.
*PRODUCTION NOTE: I say “possibly” because I’m not sure what the current record is for party wins vs approval ratings. It’s worth remembering too that the Demos’ approval ratings aren’t exactly stellar right now (though they’re still higher than the GOP). Still.
– L. Bensonhurst
ITEM: Finally, something Democrat and Republican voters can agree on: they both hate Congressional Republicans.
That’s according to a poll from Quinnipiac University, which found that, overall, the majority of Republicans polled (56%) disapprove of their own party in Congress. Democrats, by contrast, are more overwhelmingly supportive of Congressional Democrats (63%).
More details at HuffPo.
We all know about polls, of course (though this is an academic poll, not an online Fox News poll, but still, polls eh?). But the results aren't really that surprising. Establishment Republicans running for Congress this year have been fighting off Tea Party challengers. And while many of the establishment candidates have been successful, some have lost. And pretty much all of my Republican colleagues tended to back the Tea Party person for the usual reason – namely, the Establishment GOP is too fucking liberal for them. They want Real Conservatives who will stand up to the tyranny of Lord Obama, not these pansy bleeding-heart moderates who talk about weak bullshit like compromise. FUCK COMPROMISE, JIM! OBAMA IS TOO DANGEROUS FOR COMPROMISE! NEVER GIVE IN! Et cetera.
Yes. Ha ha.
So in terms of approval/disapproval, it’s no surprise the GOP is getting hammered from their own side.
For the liberals tempted to make serious hay of this and predict the Democrats are going to kick ass in November, sorry kids, but no. They don’t stand a chance in the House this year and their odds of keeping the Senate are slim. The meaningful takeaway here is that the Tea Party still has a lot of clout, and isn’t going to go away quietly like John Boehner was perhaps hoping they would.
Which, ironically, is bad news for the GOP in the longer term, according to John A. Tures, political science professor at LaGrange College in Georgia, because polls also suggest that the Tea Party’s hardcore policies are not really very popular:
But long term, this isn't a positive sign for the GOP for two reasons. First, they are likely to interpret their 2014 electoral victories as a sign that they are loved by the people, and will stay the course. Second, as demographics continue to take their course, the Republicans will fall further behind. The policies, such as their hard line on immigration, will only get worse.
Perhaps. On the other hand, that also assumes that Republican voters who prefer an establishment candidate would rather vote Demo than vote for a Tea Party Republican. I’m not too convinced of that. Tures does say “long term”, but that could mean anywhere from four to 40 years. Given both current demographic realities and the prospect of President Hillary Clinton in 2016 – and Hillary can expect the same amount of cooperation from a GOP-controlled House and/or Senate that Glorious Leader Obama is getting now (which is to say, none whatsoever) – Repub voters will probably stick to the GOP for at least the next decade no matter how batshit they become. Better a dysfunctional batshit democracy than a Socialist dictatorship, eh Ted?
Either way, it does indicate weird times ahead for the GOP. It will spend the next few election cycles at war with itself and – I suspect – adopting more unpopular positions that they’ll back as long as it doesn’t hurt their overall election chances, if only because of voter inertia. In which case the GOP could possibly* go down in American history as the most successful political party with the lowest approval ratings ever.
*PRODUCTION NOTE: I say “possibly” because I’m not sure what the current record is for party wins vs approval ratings. It’s worth remembering too that the Demos’ approval ratings aren’t exactly stellar right now (though they’re still higher than the GOP). Still.
– L. Bensonhurst
