In case you thought the GOP was ascendant...

[MadImmortalMan]

Dems aren't the only ones who have "problems with their base".




http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/december_2009/tea_party_tops_gop_on_three_way_generic_ballot

Tea Party Tops GOP on Three-Way Generic Ballot
Monday, December 07, 2009


Running under the Tea Party brand may be better in congressional races than being a Republican.

In a three-way Generic Ballot test, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Democrats attracting 36% of the vote. The Tea Party candidate picks up 23%, and Republicans finish third at 18%. Another 22% are undecided.

Among voters not affiliated with either major party, the Tea Party comes out on top. Thirty-three percent (33%) prefer the Tea Party candidate, and 30% are undecided. Twenty-five percent (25%) would vote for a Democrat, and just 12% prefer the GOP.

Among Republican voters, 39% say they'd vote for the GOP candidate, but 33% favor the Tea Party option.

For this survey, the respondents were asked to assume that the Tea Party movement organized as a new political party. In practical terms, it is unlikely that a true third-party option would perform as well as the polling data indicates. The rules of the election process—written by Republicans and Democrats--provide substantial advantages for the two established major parties. The more conventional route in the United States is for a potential third-party force to overtake one of the existing parties.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The standard Generic Congressional Ballot shows Republicans holding a modest lead over Democrats. It appears that the policies of the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress are currently enough to unite both those who prefer Republicans and those who prefer the Tea Party route.

Data from the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll shows that just 55% of conservatives nationwide consider themselves Republicans. Recent polling shows that 73% of Republican voters believe their leaders in Washington are out of touch with the party base.

Republican voters are paying a lot more attention to the Tea Party movement than anyone else. Forty-three percent (43%) of GOP voters are following news about the movement Very Closely. Another 30% are following it Somewhat Closely. Just 12% of Democrats are following stories about the Tea Party movement Very Closely.

Seventy percent (70%) of Republican voters have a favorable opinion of the Tea Party movement while only seven percent (7%) offer an unfavorable view. Interestingly, 49% of Democrats have no opinion one way or the other.

Among unaffiliated voters, 43% have a favorable opinion of the Tea Party efforts while 20% say the opposite.

Forty-one percent (41%) of all voters nationwide say Republicans and Democrats are so much alike that a new party is needed to represent the American people. Republicans are evenly divided on this question, while Democrats overwhelmingly disagree. However, among those not affiliated with either major party, 60% agree that a new party is needed, and only 25% disagree. Men are far more likely than women to believe a new party is needed.

As for the voting preference, the Tea Party bests the GOP among both men and women and in all age groups except those over 65.

The Tea Party candidates are the first choice among political conservatives. Among moderates, the Tea Party candidates are more popular than Republicans. However, nearly half of all moderate voters prefer a Democrat.

Among the Political Class, not a single respondent picked the Tea Party candidate.

However, among those with populist or Mainstream views, 31% prefer the Tea Party, and 26% are undecided. Twenty-three percent (23%) pick a Republican candidate, and 19% are for the Democrat (See more on the Political Class-Mainstream divide).

[Sheilbh]

One of my worries is that there seem to be a number of primary challengers in the GOP who are targeting moderates and running on a sort-of Glenn Beck-Tea Party platform.  To use a British analogy I thought the Republicans were going to be like the Tories in 1997 and just take a while to realise that certain of their view are unpopular.  If they do go Tea Party-Glenn Beck they'll be more like Labour in 1980 marching into stupid silliness and irrelevance.

[Fate]

Palin recently embraced the Birther movement during a radio talk show interview. I must go thank the lord for this string of right wing self destruction.

[DGuller]

Believe it or not, there are a lot of people believing that Republicans can return to power only by embracing true conservatism, and by reversing the movement to the left on social and economic issues.  This radicalization is baffling, and scary.

[Eddie Teach]

Gobama.

I foresee these Tea Party mavericks being swept away in a tide of general election defeats by Democrats.

Yeah it's a stretch. Hard to think of a good political metaphor for longhorns and a tide of red is kinda the opposite of what I wanted to say.

[Razgovory]

Believe it or not, there are a lot of people believing that Republicans can return to power only by embracing true conservatism, and by reversing the movement to the left on social and economic issues.  This radicalization is baffling, and scary.

Funny.  Muslims believe the same thing.

[Admiral Yi]

Funny.  Muslims believe the same thing.

Muslims believe in free market economics?

[Fate]

Funny.  Muslims believe the same thing.

Muslims believe in free market economics?

Republicans believe in free market economics? (Tea Baggers would say no)

[Admiral Yi]

Republicans believe in free market economics? (Tea Baggers would say no)

Ask DGuller.  He was the one talking about reversing the move to the left.

[Martinus]

Funny.  Muslims believe the same thing.

Muslims believe in free market economics?

They don't? Ever heard of the Emirates? 

[MadImmortalMan]

They don't? Ever heard of the Emirates? 

They have their own Sharia-friendly version if it though.

[Darth Wagtaros]

This sort of thing comes and goes.

[DGuller]

Republicans believe in free market economics? (Tea Baggers would say no)

Ask DGuller.  He was the one talking about reversing the move to the left.

On economics the buzz word is fiscal responsibility.  For reasons no one can determine, this issue finally caused a massive awakening in 2009.

[CountDeMoney]

Heh, tea baggers.

[Sheilbh]

They have their own Sharia-friendly version if it though.

Well I like the principles of Islamic finance more than most commercial banks.  But there's a bit of an issue.  Because Sharia isn't a body of law like you have in a state what the 'law' is really depends on which Muslim jurist you ask.  So Islamic finance in particular has come under attack. 

The UK's the biggest centre of it outside of the Muslim world (it's worth billions) but a lot of the banks who operate under Islamic principles or investment or commercial banks who offer Sharia products are criticised for the jurists they choose.  Basically if you shop around you can get a jurist who will offer Islamic justification for more or less anything (to use an Iranian example accepted, respected jurists range from someone who's issued a fatwa against nuclear weapons and supports female Ayatollahs to the most extreme millenarian views).  So a lot of Sharia scholars moan because they get asked to deliver a report on Islamic finance products and those views promptly get ignored in favour of ones that are basically Western banking practices with a Muslim flavour.

The biggest residential property development in the UK is being funded by the Qataris and most of it is Sharia-acceptable.  The differences are generally minimal because the financial sector still basically wants to make a big profit.