Rasmussen Reports
Republican Establishment Declares War on GOP Voters
A Commentary By Scott Rasmussen
Friday, January 11, 2013
_Official Washington hailed the deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff
as a significant bipartisan accomplishment_
(http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_scott_rasmussen/avoiding_fi
scal_cliff_may_be_a_bad_deal_for_official_washington) . However, voters
around the country viewed the deal in very partisan terms: Seven out of 10
Democrats approved of it, while seven out of 10 Republicans disapproved.
Just a few days after reaching that agreement, an inside-the-Beltway
publication reported another area of bipartisan agreement. Politico explained
that while Washington Democrats have always viewed GOP voters as a problem,
Washington Republicans "in many a post-election soul-searching session" have
come to agree. More precisely, the article said the party's Election 2012
failures have "brought forth one principal conclusion from establishment
Republicans: They have a primary problem."
As seen from the halls of power, the problem is that Republican voters
think it's OK to replace incumbent senators and congressman who don't
represent
the views of their constituents. In 2012, for example, Republican voters
in Indiana dumped longtime Sen. Richard Lugar in a primary battle.
This infuriated establishment Republicans for two reasons. First, because
they liked Lugar and the way he worked. Second, because the replacement
candidate was flawed and allowed Democrats to win what should have been a safe
Republican seat.
So, according to Politico, the Washington team is gearing up a new effort
to protect incumbents and limit the ability of Republican voters to
successfully challenge establishment candidates.
That makes sense to those whose sole goal is winning a majority in Congress
rather than changing the course of government policy. Seen from the
outside, though, it sounds like the professional politicians are saying that
the
only way to win is to pick more candidates like the insiders. Hearing that
message, the reaction of many Republican and conservative voters is, "Why
bother?"
That's why more than two-thirds of Republican voters believe GOP officials
in Washington have lost touch with the party's base.
The Republican establishment has two choices. They can act as mature party
leaders of a national political party, or they can protect their own
self-interest.
Mature party leaders would spend a lot more time listening to Republican
voters rather than further insulating themselves from those voters. They
would try to understand why just 37 percent of Republicans nationwide believe
the economy is fair. They would give serious thought to why just half of GOP
voters have a favorable opinion of House Speaker John Boehner, the
highest-ranking elected Republican in the nation. They would acknowledge that
government spending in America has gone up in every year since 1954 regardless
of whether Republicans or Democrats are in charge.
Then mature party leaders would chart a realistic course to address these
concerns and share those plans with the voters. To succeed, this course
would have to include some painful medicine for the establishment, such as
giving up corporate welfare programs that benefit their friends and allies. It
also would require helping Republican voters identify primary candidates
who challenge the establishment but could be effective on the campaign trail.
This is a much tougher course to follow; one that would benefit the party
and the nation. Unfortunately, by seeking to protect the insiders from the
voters, all indications are that most establishment Republicans would rather
blame the voters and keep their perks.
--
Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community
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Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
