# 2008 GOP, most unpopular party **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 22, 2008, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955 "2008-11-22T03:52:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/1 "2008-11-22T03:52:13Z")
From a recent Gallup poll: > [@](#): > > Just 34 percent of Americans in a Gallup Poll released Thursday say they have a favorable view of the party, down 40 percent from a month ago, before the election. > > What’s worse: 61 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of the Republican Party. > > According to Gallup, that unfavorable rating is the highest the polling organization has recorded for the GOP since the measure was established in 1992. > > The poll of national adults was conducted on November 13-16 with a three percent margin of error. Republicans, wake up and smell the coffee: YOU’RE ON THE WRONG TRACK, and Sarah Palin (and creatures of her ilk) are NOT helping you. [Link.](http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/20/poll-gop-image-goes-from-bad-to-worse/#more-30933) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/2 "2008-11-22T03:57:24Z")
What’s the debate? Yes, we’ve got a poor economic situation, a financial system still struggling with a hair-raising crisis of epic proportions, two unsatisfactory wars, widespread international unpopularity, and a lot of domestic resentment on issues from immigration to health care to the Wall Street bailout. Naturally, the party in power is going to be extremely unpopular, even if many Americans in theory agree with its positions. > [@Knorf](#): > > Sarah Palin (and creatures of her ilk) are NOT helping you. Cite? How do we know that the Republican Party would become **more** popular overall if it cut loose from its religious-right base? ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/3 "2008-11-22T04:06:32Z")
I indeed think the GOP would become more popular in the long run if the party cut itself loose from religious mediocrities like Sarah Palin. The Gallup Poll seems like evidence to me that the GOP is slipping further. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/4 "2008-11-22T04:08:07Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Cite? How do we know that the Republican Party would become **more** popular overall if it cut loose from its religious-right base? If Sarah Palin were helping, I’d argue that the GOP’s approval rating wouldn’t be slipping post-election. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/5 "2008-11-22T04:55:09Z")
I suspect the recent slump in there numbers is simply a function of loosing the election. Previous to Nov. the people that were going to vote for McCain had a reason to say they supported the GOP, even if they were dissatisfied with the last four years. Now not so much. And agree with **Kimstu** that Palin has little or nothing to do with the GOP’s current unpopularity. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/6 "2008-11-22T05:11:45Z")
I see the hardcore repubs as about 25 percent. They woo the gun nuts,religious fanatics and anti abortion vote to give them a chance. Many in those groups are voting against many of their own interests because they over load a single issue. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/7 "2008-11-22T05:25:40Z")
Palin is a symptom of the GOP’s problems, not the cause. Moderates who previously leaned right are getting fed up with the party’s craven religious pandering and blatant hypocrisy. (Mike Duncan, the head of the RNC for this past election cycle, said that Obama had run the most successful moderate Republican campaign in decades. Really, Mike? Weren’t you guys just saying a few weeks ago that he was a socialist Muslim Marxist terrorist?) ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/8 "2008-11-22T06:39:12Z")
I recall how EVERYONE was saying after Watergate how the Republicans were doomed and how bad it was to be a Republican. Liberals were actually liberal and the “in” crowd. Then came Jimmy Carter and Iran. Carter was a very genuine guy who really cared about people, but he didn’t know how to get anything done, being an “outside” in Washington. So in 1980 not even 10 years after Watergate, the Dems were swept out and the election was really a re-aligning election. Obama will have to prove he is the “change.” For a man elected for “not voting for the Iraq war,” and having spent most of his career running for President, he has a lot to prove, or the Democrats will be swept out in midterms. It’s really the economy that changes the party in power. Obama is saying out of Iraq by 2011. No he needs to be out by midterm election and he needs the economic recovery to be in full swing to keep control of congress. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/9 "2008-11-22T07:12:33Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > So in 1980 not even 10 years after Watergate, the Dems were swept out and the election was really a re-aligning election. The Dems continued to hold onto a majority in Congress until 1994. By the way, in my OP, I didn’t say Sarah Palin was at fault. I said that people like her (and her herself) are not helping the GOP’s continuing slide into political irrelevance. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/10 "2008-11-22T10:04:14Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > How do we know that the Republican Party would become **more** popular overall if it cut loose from its religious-right base? Isn’t that what GD is for? If we knew, we could just do this in GQ. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/11 "2008-11-22T11:50:37Z")
From the OP’s link: > [@](#): > > Most Republicans — 59 percent — want the party to become more conservative, according to the poll. Another 28 percent want it to remain about the same ideologically, while only 12 percent would prefer to see the Republican Party become less conservative. IOW, the GOP isn’t in a hurry to wake up, and smelling the coffee is right out. But I’m kinda scared to think about what “more conservative” might mean. I’d thought “question reality” was more of a _liberal_ bumper sticker. (I’d thought about getting one of those, myself. :)) But - and this is addressed to the GOP 59% - we intended that to be taken _humorously_, not as _practical advice_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/12 "2008-11-22T18:48:51Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > But I’m kinda scared to think about what “more conservative” might mean. I’d thought “question reality” was more of a _liberal_ bumper sticker. (I’d thought about getting one of those, myself. :)) But - and this is addressed to the GOP 59% - we intended that to be taken _humorously_, not as _practical advice_. 😃 Heh! No kidding. Well fine, get more conservative, GOP. We’ll check back in a couple years and see how that worked out for ya. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/13 "2008-11-22T18:57:53Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > I indeed think the GOP would become more popular in the long run if the party cut itself loose from religious mediocrities like Sarah Palin. > > The Gallup Poll seems like evidence to me that the GOP is slipping further. How exactly do you think it would become more popular if it cut off the 34% of the population that currently supports it? What you are saying essentially is that the GOP brand of it’s own volition as a singular entity should decide that all the people who run it are not within its best interests. How exactly does that work? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/14 "2008-11-22T19:16:56Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > (Mike Duncan, the head of the RNC for this past election cycle, said that Obama had run the most successful moderate Republican campaign in decades. Really, Mike? Weren’t you guys just saying a few weeks ago that he was a socialist Muslim Marxist terrorist?) I don’t doubt the quote, but I’d still like to see a cite; googling didn’t get me much better than [this](http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews+articleid_2772780.html) or (urk) [this](http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2127287/posts). I’d just like to see it in context. Regardless, it’s pretty hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/15 "2008-11-22T19:28:49Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > How exactly do you think it would become more popular if it cut off the 34% of the population that currently supports it? “Cut off 34% of the poplulation”? Who said anything like that? Your assumptions and silly paraphrase about what I said are erroneous, entirely. I said cut loose “religious mediocities such as Sarah Palin.” Don’t let such fools lead your party, in other words. But I guess it’s typically conservative thinking–“you’re either for me or you’re against me.” And that’s why the GOP is in its current state. Either you give the religious right _exactly_ what they want–and ignore the concerns of anyone else–or else you’re “cutting them off.” Brilliant. So, GOP: go ahead, kowtow to the religious right more than ever. See where that gets you. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/16 "2008-11-22T19:34:58Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Obama will have to prove he is the “change.” For a man elected for “not voting for the Iraq war,” and having spent most of his career running for President, he has a lot to prove, or the Democrats will be swept out in midterms. > It’s really the economy that changes the party in power. Obama is saying out of Iraq by 2011. No he needs to be out by midterm election and he needs the economic recovery to be in full swing to keep control of congress. Agreed. Even in spite of the current economic conditions, in spite of Bush being at the depths of unpopularity, even in spite of Obama probably being at the peak of his popularity (inevitably, some portion of the people who voted for him will find he isn’t meeting their expectations and be angry/disappointed)…in spite of all that, McCain **still** managed to net 46% of the popular vote. The Republican party is certainly not dead. A lot of people who were upset about Bush’s decisions distanced themselves from the party, but I expect many will come back now that Obama is the one who will get the blame for anything that goes wrong. It also helps that that Obama has a lot of throwbacks to the Clinton era on his team, given how polarizing the Clintons are. You can bet that Rush Limbaugh and his ilk are going to have a lot of fun for the next few years. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/17 "2008-11-22T19:39:03Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > How exactly do you think it would become more popular if it cut off the 34% of the population that currently supports it? What you are saying essentially is that the GOP brand of it’s own volition as a singular entity should decide that all the people who run it are not within its best interests. On second thought, I guess maybe you’re saying 34% of the population are what I called “religious mediocrities.” That seems high to me, but maybe. If you’re right, and everyone who currently self-identifies as a Republican is also a Palinesque religious mediocrity (which I said you should cut loose), then, yeah. The GOP is in big trouble. But yes, I’m arguing that some of the people running the GOP are not in the best interests of the GOP. Did Dubya do the Republican Party any favors in the long term? Or are there _no_ leaders of the GOP who aren’t religious mediocrities? In my opinion, the rank and file of non-mediocre religious wackos in the GOP should get their shit together and realize that some of their leaders are leading them to hell. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/18 "2008-11-22T20:21:20Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > How exactly do you think it would become more popular if it cut off the 34% of the population that currently supports it? What you are saying essentially is that the GOP brand of it’s own volition as a singular entity should decide that all the people who run it are not within its best interests. > > How exactly does that work? Unfortunately for the Republicans, 34% of the electorate in our system may as well be 3% or 4%. What you need is the 66% that opposes the 34%. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/19 "2008-11-22T20:38:21Z")
By the way, may I just add that I hate the assumption that Christian or religious = “conservative” (in the Palinesque sense.) I know loads of liberal Christians. I know some some liberal Muslims. Jewish people I know who are liberals are a dime a dozen. The Republicans do not moral authority. It’s high time they figured that out (and I speak as a former Republican.) ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955/20 "2008-11-22T20:52:43Z")
> **[A Letter to My Brother Newt Gingrich](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/a-letter-to-my-brother-ne_b_145739)** > > This is a movement of the people that you most fear. It's a movement of progress -- and your words only show how truly desperate you are to maintain control of a world that is changing before your very eyes. Here is Newt Gingrich’s sister telling him to get a clue. The world is changing and the repubs are not. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-gop-most-unpopular-party/473955.md?page=2)