Over at Political Wire, Taegan Goddard finds an interesting fact in a CNN poll:
In other words, most Republican voters -- although frustrated by their party's minority status -- would rather lose than vote in an ideologically impure Republican. Ezra Klein wonders, "It would be interesting to see whether anyone asked this question when Democrats were in the minority and, if so, whether the numbers flipped. Is this a feature of the Republican Party or a feature of the party that's out of power?"
I don't think there's much of a question; look at the Democratic Party now. Sure, dem voters tried to kick out Joe Lieberman, but the coalition would still be pretty broad without Traitor Joe. We're wrangling with Blue Dogs over healthcare reform costs and anti-choice dems like Bart Stupak over abortion. I don't remember anyone saying, "Aw crap!" when they won.
The closest thing I remember to a RINO hunt is the anti-Lieberman DINO hunt. And that's it. "Democrat In Name Only" has never been a real battlecry on the left.
In any case, this pours a little cold water on the "Republicans on the way back" stories bouncing around the media and the net. If the GOP puts up someone who the base thinks is ideologically impure, the majority of Republicans won't care if they get elected -- which not only risks more NY-23s, but a real lack of enthusiasm for candidates who have a chance of winning.
"The poll indicates that a slight majority, 51%, of Republicans would prefer to see the GOP in their area nominate candidates who agree with them on all the major the issues even if they have a poor chance of beating the Democratic candidate. Forty-three percent of Republicans say they would rather have candidates with whom they don't agree on all the important issues but who can beat the Democrats."
In contrast, Democrats polled "seemed to place a slightly higher priority on electoral victory: 58% say that they would like their party to nominate candidates who can beat Republicans, even if they don't agree with those candidates on all the issues."
In other words, most Republican voters -- although frustrated by their party's minority status -- would rather lose than vote in an ideologically impure Republican. Ezra Klein wonders, "It would be interesting to see whether anyone asked this question when Democrats were in the minority and, if so, whether the numbers flipped. Is this a feature of the Republican Party or a feature of the party that's out of power?"
I don't think there's much of a question; look at the Democratic Party now. Sure, dem voters tried to kick out Joe Lieberman, but the coalition would still be pretty broad without Traitor Joe. We're wrangling with Blue Dogs over healthcare reform costs and anti-choice dems like Bart Stupak over abortion. I don't remember anyone saying, "Aw crap!" when they won.
The closest thing I remember to a RINO hunt is the anti-Lieberman DINO hunt. And that's it. "Democrat In Name Only" has never been a real battlecry on the left.
In any case, this pours a little cold water on the "Republicans on the way back" stories bouncing around the media and the net. If the GOP puts up someone who the base thinks is ideologically impure, the majority of Republicans won't care if they get elected -- which not only risks more NY-23s, but a real lack of enthusiasm for candidates who have a chance of winning.
