“PRESUMABLY trustworthy candidate”
That’s an awful lot to presume, I think. Got anyone in mind, in particular that you feel we can make such a presumption about? Which GOP candidate leads for trustworthiness in your view? Just curious!
Obamacare is unpopular. Opposing it should be a winning issue for Republicans; clinging to it should be a losing issue for Democrats.
Regarding discrimination against they gay community, the top issue is whether private businesses should be forced to cater or serve at gay weddings, even when the owners wish not to. Most Americans believe they should not be forced to do so.
There are other losing issues for Democrats that could be named:
[ul]
[li]Democrats oppose construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. Most Americans are in favor of it.[/li][li]Democrats support the deal with Iran. Most Americans oppose it.[/li][li]Democrats support the corn ethanol mandate (or at least Hillary does). Most Americans oppose it.[/li][li]Democrats oppose Right to Work laws. Most voters favor them.[/li][li]Democrats oppose school vouchers. Most voters support vouchers.[/li][/ul]
Right. If only in 2012 Republicans had opposed Obamacare, then Romney might be President today.
Maybe they should vote in Congress to repeal it! That would really send a message, wouldn’t it?
Is this true? I wasn’t aware. (the first part)
I don’t think opposing it or even repealing it is a winning position unless you’ve proposed something not only better to replace it but also with a clear direction that aims to narrow the gap in health care between the U.S. and nations that are outperforming us.
It’s never worked before. But that’s no reason not to repeat the action again & again. And again…
Of course, there is the observation to be made that as voters grow older, they tend over time to skew more conservative, so you can’t trust “once a young liberal, always a young liberal”. Current research I’m aware of does not tend to support that observation,however. See: (The politics of American generations: How age affects attitudes and voting behavior | Pew Research Center)
Anecdotally, many of my hippy-era friends and relatives apparently voted for Romney.* My* politics, of course, remain as idealistic and unsullied as ever. I’d vote for Bernie first, but any Dem over any of the Rs.
Well let’s see:
The untrustworthy/trustworthy numbers:
Clinton: 61/34 (!)
Trump: 54/38
Biden: 33/56
Bush: 39/48
Rubio: 28/49
So Rubio leads in trustworthiness, according to that poll.
Clinton definitely scores worse than anyone. When people were asked to come up with first word that comes to mind when thinking of Hillary Clinton, the top 3 words were: “liar”, “dishonest” and “untrustworthy”. While for Trump “honest” was 6th, and for Bush “honest” was 3rd.
Like its been said many many many times, Americans “oppose” the health care law in that some of us thinks it doesn’t go far enough. If the only options presented to me was like/dislike, I’d like it. But if it was like/dislike/replace, I’d check to replace it with single payer government-run health care like every other civilized country has. Plus, Obamacase is a dead issue, its been won, its a non-starter anymore. Everyone who likes it will continue to like it and, unfortunately for you, some people who dislike it will end up liking it once they realize it helps them.
Yeah, and it took 30 years after interracial marriage was forced on Americans before a majority of them approved it. I’m very happy that bigots are being forced to pretend their secular business who takes money from atheists, adulterers, and Muslims are suddenly churches and losing in the courts
And with only “most voters among those who would ever consider voting for a Democrat,” do you get to 50% of the general election vote? No. You get ~38%. That’s great for a GOP blowout.
Bernie Sanders, for one, wants to replace Obamacare with single-payer. What’s the GOP plan again?
And most Democratic pols will probably go with the people on that.
Is that most Americans who live in the region it would run through? I don’t have those numbers, but I wonder. We put up with a lot of pollution in the central US, but a major dilbit leak into our aquifers might be too much.
Huh, maybe. But to the point of voting based on it? If it’s a choice between a deal or a war, what’s the tally then?
And that vote is a winner in certain places and neutral most places, I expect.
Yes, the Democrats are a labor-union party. So what? Do most Americans favor everything on the GOP wishlist?
Well, there’s a lot of difference of opinion within the Democratic Party there.
This is all over the place. Are voters really going to vote based on these issues? Maybe. But I expect the Democrats gain votes based on these “unpopular” positions, because the people who want these things are more motivated than the ones that don’t.
You know, it’s kind of like how Republicans court the anti-birth-control and anti-net-neutrality factions. The most popular position isn’t always the strategic position for a careerist; it can be more strategic to take the position which gives you allies and donors.
That’s a false choice. If it’s true though, then doesn’t that mean Obama will be leading us to war should Iran cheat or just decide to reject the deal?
But anyway, on foreign policy it’s never just one issue that people vote on. What actually ends up happening is that the Democrats call the Republicans warmongers and the Republicans call the Democrats weak, with “betrayal of allies” being a particularly useful attack. The Republicans have historically won on this issue when they go on the attack, and the polling for Obama on foreign affairs is ugly.
http://pollingreport.com/obama_ad.htm
I think ITR’s point was just to show that Republicans have advantages on a lot of issues, and are regaining advantages on issues that Democrats had neutralized before Obama, such as foreign policy and crime. Yes, the REpublicans are to the right of Americans on many social issues. What liberals forget though, is that Republicans have been in that place since the Reagan Revolution. The Republican Party always positions itself significantly right of the public on social issues. The GOP’s relative positioning is the same as it has always been.
Who wins the election will of course come down to fundamentals, but it will also come down to what issues concern Americans most. If the big issues are things where Republicans have an advantage, they’ll win.
Of course the “betrayal of allies” in this case is if we back out of the deal.
Some allies. Mainly the ones least affected by Iran.
“Some” being everybody but the Israeli government. Even the Saudis are coming on board.
You know, there is the little issue of putting up a GOP candidate that people will actually vote for.
Right now that’s more the Democrats’ problem. Their frontrunner is polling nearly as badly as Trump now. The difference is that we all know Trump won’t be our nominee.
If the Democrats nominate a candidate with a 36% favorability rating then it would be hard for Republicans to NOT pick someone acceptable by comparison.
Names, you so often shy away from giving us names.
Considering the Republicans in question, this will actually be really easy. IMO at least