Even most Republican voters think GOP is out of touch

Politico: A large majority of adults say the Republican Party is out of touch with average Americans, according to a new poll.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll released on Tuesday found that 70 percent of those surveyed say the GOP is out of touch with “the concerns of most people in the United States today,” while 23 percent say that the party is in touch.

They also say the Democratic Party is out of touch, but by a closer margin of 51 to 43 percent. President Barack Obama is in touch with those concerns, said 51 percent of those surveyed, while 46 percent said that he is not.

Nobody, even the President with the slimmest possible majority, looks especially good in this poll. But Republicans’ numbers a so lopsided it’s sick. 70% is around the territory where you can start talking about a consensus. And once you get down around 23%, you’re beginning to qualify as a crank.

But the worst blow comes from Republican voters themselves. 42% believe the party is in touch with American’s concerns, while 49% conceded that they are not. If you want an example of how out-of-touch the Republican Party is, the poll provides a handy example:

As the Senate looks to tackle gun control issues, 55 percent of those surveyed said it is “possible to make gun laws without interfering with gun rights,” while 38 percent said such measures “always interfere with the right to own guns.” Eighty-six percent of those surveyed said they would support background checks conducted on those purchasing guns at gun shows and online.

Do the math. If 38% say it’s impossible to regulate guns without restricting rights and 86% say we need expanded background checks, that means that a significant number of people who believe gun laws restrict gun rights want gun restrictions regardless. If they believe it restricts rights, they don’t care. They want them anyway.

But how far out of the mainstream is the Republican stand on background checks? They’ve staked out the 14% position on the issue. No wonder people think the GOP is out of touch; they take the minority position on nearly every issue.