Griper Blade: The Green Old Party?

There's been a lot of press lately about a split in the Republican party. The religious right is all over the place, in disarray. Pro-choice, gay friendly Rudy Giuliani gets Pat Robertson's endorsement, the anti-abortion group National Right to Life backs Fred Thompson, ex-candidate and fullblown religious fanatic Sam Brownback puts his money on John McCain, and big names in the "values voter" movement are making noise about giving up on all of them and backing a third party candidate.

"The base" is looking a little shaky. But a new Harris poll released last week shows that GOPers are split in other ways that aren't getting as much attention. It turns out that Republican voters are pretty well split on the environment and global warming. According to the Harris press release, "Republicans are split more or less equally between those who believe we have too much (34%) and too little (36%) regulation. Most Democrats (68%) and half of Independents (51%) believe we have too little regulation." Further bad news for the GOP is that 25% hold the baby bear position, that government regulation is "just right." It's one thing to straddle an issue, it's another to hold three positions at once. Republican candidates are finding themselves forced to take positions on the issue...

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