For about the first time ever, I have encountered an article on Huffington Post which is actually intelligent and informative. Among the ranting and propaganda, Ryan Grim offers a very interesting report on a study by Democratic Party researchers led by party strategist Stan Greenberg which has discovered that the GOP Base is driven by "bizarre ideology, not racism."
The researchers went into the in-depth phone survey of Republican voters expecting to document a deep undercurrent of racism among tea party protesters and anti-Obama activists. Instead, they were shocked to find that even among Republican voters in the Deep South race was apparently not an issue in their opposition to the administration. What they found instead was dissatisfaction with the failures of their own party and a strong conviction that the Obama administration is rapidly taking America down the road to socialism.
On a conference call about the survey James Carville pointed out that the Republican base is not interested in compromise, saying "They want more opposition. If you don't wanna get primary-ed, there's nothing in this that tells [GOP politicians] to go compromise on anything. Quite the contrary." He also pointed out "If there was any kind of a racial element, we thought we'd pick it up. We didn't." The report concluded:
"While these voters are disdainful of a Republican Party they view to have failed in its mission, they overwhelmingly view a successful Obama presidency as the destruction of this country's founding principles and are committed to seeing the president fail."
These partisan researchers were clearly not only surprised by the results, but didn't entirely understand them. What Grim describes as a "bizarre ideology," and the Democrats dismiss as obstructionism driven by Fox News, should be taken much more seriously. The resurgence of the Republican base and opposition to current Democratic policies is about much more than partisanship. There is a deep-seated dissatisfaction with the direction in which the country has been going for decades, and Obama just happens to be in office at the time when people have finally gotten fed up and decided to take the future of the country back into their own hands.
Article comments
1 - Jon Sobel
The report itself is spun to favor the Democrats, but you seem to be just spinning it the other way; it opens with the statement, "The self-identifying conservative Republicans who make up the base of the Republican Party stand a world apart from the rest of America." "Rest of America" is loaded phrasing. You're loading it the other way, saying that "people have finally gotten fed up and decided to take the future of the country back into their own hands" - but you're referring to the same people the Democratic report seeks to marginalize. You say "people have finally gotten fed up" as if they're a majority movement, while the report tries to marginalize them by setting them up in opposition to the "rest of America."
It's spin either way. But your spin seems wronger. The "people" - the majority movement of the present time - voted in Obama.
2 - Dave Nalle
Well yes, Jon. That's the point, really. Balancing the spin. As for the people voting in Obama, that was almost a year ago. Since then the Republican crossovers and independents have developed a hardcore case of buyer's remorse and the result is the change in where the majority lies which this article and the report document.
Dave
3 - Baronius
Really interesting study.
It's funny to read how the pollsters couldn't get their heads around the idea of non-racist opposition to the President. You could picture them, as the focus group was breaking up: "Come on guys, just between us...he's black, you're yokels...admit it, that's why you hate him, right?"
The level of devotion to Fox News did surprise me.
4 - Doug Hunter
If you dare venture into the comments on HuffPo you'll find no one believes the study anyway. They talk of code words and subconscious racism, etc., etc.
While the study is likely no surprise to us on the right, a dozen studies like this won't make the charges of racism go away because that's the key to motivating voters and winning elections for the Democrats.
5 - Clavos
While the study is likely no surprise to us on the right, a dozen studies like this won't make the charges of racism go away because that's the key to motivating voters and winning elections for the Democrats.
Quoted for Truth.
6 - Dave Nalle
But it's interesting the Carville and Greenberg who are some pretty sharp guys clearly believed it and took it seriously. Of course, they were probably smart enough to know the racism spin was bullshit before the study.
Dave
7 - Zedd
Dave,
Where is the study?
8 - Clavos
Zedd 7,
Here.
It's easy enough to find if you read the article and follow the links...
9 - Joe
The article fails to mention the stark difference in the report cited between conservative Republicans and conservative independents. The conservative Republicans think that Obama wants to have the country go down the crapper so those who control him (foreign?) can set up a dictatorship. The independent conservatives have problems with big deficits and increased government involvement in the Health system. The independents don't think Obama is part of a conspiracy to turn the US into a soviet republic but just another American they disagree with. The difference is big-- very big.
10 - Zedd
Dave, Clavos,
That is not a study, that is an article.
Where is the study? You know the scientific study.... not two quotes from a couple of guys. This is opinion piece.
Its obvious that the "researchers" either don't know how to conduct a study and don't know what a racist is (because they never defined what the characteristics of a racist-based on a world of real studies - are). They just posed the questions PUBLICLY to some White, old guys who are uneducated. Great science there boys!!! What was the sample size? I may have missed it. What were the questions? How were they asked? Under what conditions? Oh I forget openly and they were allowed to ramble on. What format? Ramble on format and hope to catch them being racist or perhaps sneaking moments of white hoodness when they think no one is looking. What did they do to make sure that the respondents would not over correct themselves so that they would not appear racist? They didn't even acknowledge that as being a possibility.
Are these kids (not social scientists) from the business department of some college or art majors??? Sure sounds like it.
Bottom line... The "study" says we let these White guys talk and they said they were offended about being thought to be racists and because of THAT they are not racists....????
As expected Dave, it was stupid and makes no point what so ever.
How hard is it to read and get engaged. Information is out there just sitting there waiting for you. You keep writing lame articles about nothing, making up half of the crap. What is it? You lazy or think you are slick and have snuck one over on every body....? Que?