The people who poll conservative but vote for Democrats probably fall into one of the following groups:
1. Selfish. This is the group who mostly cares about free stuff. Asked about individual issues they may sound conservative, but when it comes to the voting booth they will always care more about their own personal bottom line. And we know the Democrats are the party of free stuff.
2. Low-information voter. This person can tell you the very latest gossip about celebrities, but has no idea whatsoever what Obamacare is about. Asked about individual issues they answer conservatively, but they are easily swayed by an emotional 30-second ad to vote for Democrats.
3. Low-intelligence voter. This person is easily swayed by the easy answers. Rarely do they concern themselves with the long-term effects of bad policy. And the Democrat platform is the platform of easy answers.
4. Disgusted. This person used to vote routinely for conservatives, but they got so disgusted with both parties at some point that they don't even show up to vote anymore.
5. Social liberal. This person lines up with conservatives on most issues (national defense, taxes), but they feel so strongly about one or more social issues (ex: abortion, gay rights) that they refuse to vote Republican.
Max17 - 11 years ago
"The political class is in the saddle, and there is nothing we can do about it" was the closest to my preferred answer - RINOs are in the saddle, and there is nothing to differentiate them from Democrats. Conservatives have to stop voting for RINOs even if it means a Democrat wins. The faster we get RINOs out of leadership positions, the faster real conservatives can replace them. We have to fix the Republican Party before we can fix the nation. I would like nothing more than to see John McCain and John Boehner lose their next elections, even if it means Democrats replace them. Both of those clowns have done as much damage to the country as any Democrat you can name.
Nathan W - 11 years ago
I voted for news media and academia, but I would go further and say that in general, progressives seek seats of power (courts, media, politics, education, Hollywood, Wall Street), whereas conservatives tend to be less personally ambitious and consequently have less cultural influence. (The media aspect of this is much less true in the Internet era because of low barriers to entry. The K-12 education system leans progressive because it is publicly funded, almost regardless of the quality of local administrators and teachers.) I suspect the root of this problem is poor preaching: Conservatism is correlated with Christianity in America, and Christianity has taught for over a century that "worldly" things are "bad," and consequently Christians have withdrawn from many areas where they should be exercising influence, and have allowed less scrupulous people to control these areas by default.
jp - 11 years ago
Two types of people go to Washington DC. Those that are there to make a lot of money, and those that don't know why they are there.
PG Farmer - 11 years ago
I choose coopted GOP in DC. I mean most of these guys move their and it would be anti-DC Chamber of Commerce to do anything that would hurt the local (their) economy.
But I agree with Chris Johnson. The Romney campaign did not fight the good fight in the trenches. He was weak and out tactically played. The GOP needs a better ground game.
It would be interesting to see what respondents think have a positive impact and a negative impact on conservative success. For the press just see how Obama's Amazon speech is reported on AP. He is trying to give stuff to Republicans?
Debbie S. - 11 years ago
My family, including two teens 16 & 19, agree that "low information voters," resulting from liberal academia and liberal media, are a major factor in putting liberals into elected office.
Critical thinking is seldom promoted in high school or university settings. Teachers regularly belittle or silence students who don't embrace the liberal point of view. They allow other students to shout down conservative opinions when the liberal arguments fail. We believe most conservative ideals are based in facts (reduced regulations & taxes and profit incentives spur economic growth) while most liberal ideals are based in emotions (taxing rich people more and giving it to the poor is only fair) and once the opponent begins shouting, they have lost the argument.
The media makes it difficult to find balanced information by suppressing stories that make liberal figures and/or policies look bad (Fast & Furious, Benghazi, etc.) and fabricating or embellishing stories that make conservatives look bad (War on Women, The Party of "NO," disdain for the 49%, etc.) Today's American media reminds me of the 1970s Soviet media who followed the Communist Party line. The only difference is that the Soviet media did it because they feared death while the media in this country does it because they ARE the liberals/socialists in this country.
Cheryl Byl - 11 years ago
Plus we don't have leaders who sell conservativism on a real way like Reagan. Ted Cruz can do it but he is still unknown to non politicals.
Greg Clark - 11 years ago
For a number of reasons, conservatives are terrible at explaining their philosophy. Part of the problem is that a lot of nominal conservatives don't understand it themselves, they just use it as a label to win elections in their locality. The Conservative Party in NYS is a prime example of this.
ScottN - 11 years ago
Conservatives argue for policies that make sense for everybody from a long-term perspective. But, liberals have learned that exploiting the short-term, and often emotional argument often wins the day. We see this over and over again. For instance, Republicans offer legislation that will bring our country back to fiscal responsibility and Democrats howl about all of the "programs" that will have to be cut to achieve the long-term goal. This is often followed by massive, coordinated, and media supported demagoguery with examples like cutting off granny from her medication or throwing poor children out of their houses. So, how do you convince a majority of voters that the conservative message of freedom and long-term prosperity are worth the inevitable real short-term sacrifices as well as the worse ones conjured by the MSM? A difficult question, but one we'll need to figure it out to be able to have any success at the polls.
Chris Johnson - 11 years ago
Although I seem to agree with the majority amongst the listed responses, I am concerned that we are overlooking a mechanical issue. It seems that the multiple voting days/early voting are very much a tool for the ground game practitioners. From what I have gathered, political operatives are actually being provided with voter-specific information that allows them to determine whom has already cast a vote, and those that remain to be targeted. I can't imagine why that sort of specific information is released to anyone, prior to the closing of the polls. This reminds me of the problems with Card Check, as opposed to the secret ballot. I think states need to close down the information pipelines that are being tapped by political operatives, to better reflect potential voters' real enthusiasm for casting ballots.
David Miller - 11 years ago
Liberals do a far better job consolidating their base and marketing their message, especially to the potential voter who looks at the macro versus the micro view. Sure the liberals get plenty of help from media etc. but it is too often used as an excuse for lack of success. Mr. Breslow's post above was spot on about Reagan. He left out Reagan's ability to simplify a strong message and successfully market it to the population.
kdj - 11 years ago
The biggest piece of why conservatives win on issues but loose elections comes down to group/identity politics and its explotation in the media. As long as people fall for political targeting as a group, it is hard for the individual liberty side to win. Many people may think competition is the best way to fix the banking industry, but also vote for who promises to favor them over another in some way. Unless someone can articulately explain that rights are individual not group based, conservative politicians often look less caring under the spotlight of an unfavorable media.
RickN - 11 years ago
Your poll missed the big elephant in the room, Our candidates aren't conservative enough on the fiscal issues. They get to DC and start spending money like drunken liberals.
JWilliams - 11 years ago
I've decided that people would rather have incompetent government than government they don't feel they can trust. And the distrust they have for Republicans is almost 100% media-generated (on behalf of Democrats, of course). IMO, Republicans are more trustworthy--though marginally so--than Democrats because they don't put on airs trying to be populist while smoking big cigars and courting the really big money behind the scenes. But there's a constant din of Republican-bashing as mean, hateful, bigoted, etc., etc., that permeates pop culture and carries over into society in general. And when Republicans try to counter the false narratives, they can't find a friendly camera or even a friendly pen. The only way we're going to be able to overcome this false narrative is to find another Reagan who has the presence and the exposure to stand up and put the lie to them. But it's going to have to be a President because the press assiduously avoids reporting any such attempts from Congress.
mark breslow - 11 years ago
i believe that the conservatives when pushed by the media, do not act confidently enough to state their case and persuade others to the rightness of any issue, e.g. obamacare, the economy, job loss, immigration, benghazi. the "right" worries more about what the media will say and think, rather stand by their principles.
where oh where is ronald reagan the last really true conservative who had a set of principles he stood by.
The people who poll conservative but vote for Democrats probably fall into one of the following groups:
1. Selfish. This is the group who mostly cares about free stuff. Asked about individual issues they may sound conservative, but when it comes to the voting booth they will always care more about their own personal bottom line. And we know the Democrats are the party of free stuff.
2. Low-information voter. This person can tell you the very latest gossip about celebrities, but has no idea whatsoever what Obamacare is about. Asked about individual issues they answer conservatively, but they are easily swayed by an emotional 30-second ad to vote for Democrats.
3. Low-intelligence voter. This person is easily swayed by the easy answers. Rarely do they concern themselves with the long-term effects of bad policy. And the Democrat platform is the platform of easy answers.
4. Disgusted. This person used to vote routinely for conservatives, but they got so disgusted with both parties at some point that they don't even show up to vote anymore.
5. Social liberal. This person lines up with conservatives on most issues (national defense, taxes), but they feel so strongly about one or more social issues (ex: abortion, gay rights) that they refuse to vote Republican.
"The political class is in the saddle, and there is nothing we can do about it" was the closest to my preferred answer - RINOs are in the saddle, and there is nothing to differentiate them from Democrats. Conservatives have to stop voting for RINOs even if it means a Democrat wins. The faster we get RINOs out of leadership positions, the faster real conservatives can replace them. We have to fix the Republican Party before we can fix the nation. I would like nothing more than to see John McCain and John Boehner lose their next elections, even if it means Democrats replace them. Both of those clowns have done as much damage to the country as any Democrat you can name.
I voted for news media and academia, but I would go further and say that in general, progressives seek seats of power (courts, media, politics, education, Hollywood, Wall Street), whereas conservatives tend to be less personally ambitious and consequently have less cultural influence. (The media aspect of this is much less true in the Internet era because of low barriers to entry. The K-12 education system leans progressive because it is publicly funded, almost regardless of the quality of local administrators and teachers.) I suspect the root of this problem is poor preaching: Conservatism is correlated with Christianity in America, and Christianity has taught for over a century that "worldly" things are "bad," and consequently Christians have withdrawn from many areas where they should be exercising influence, and have allowed less scrupulous people to control these areas by default.
Two types of people go to Washington DC. Those that are there to make a lot of money, and those that don't know why they are there.
I choose coopted GOP in DC. I mean most of these guys move their and it would be anti-DC Chamber of Commerce to do anything that would hurt the local (their) economy.
But I agree with Chris Johnson. The Romney campaign did not fight the good fight in the trenches. He was weak and out tactically played. The GOP needs a better ground game.
It would be interesting to see what respondents think have a positive impact and a negative impact on conservative success. For the press just see how Obama's Amazon speech is reported on AP. He is trying to give stuff to Republicans?
My family, including two teens 16 & 19, agree that "low information voters," resulting from liberal academia and liberal media, are a major factor in putting liberals into elected office.
Critical thinking is seldom promoted in high school or university settings. Teachers regularly belittle or silence students who don't embrace the liberal point of view. They allow other students to shout down conservative opinions when the liberal arguments fail. We believe most conservative ideals are based in facts (reduced regulations & taxes and profit incentives spur economic growth) while most liberal ideals are based in emotions (taxing rich people more and giving it to the poor is only fair) and once the opponent begins shouting, they have lost the argument.
The media makes it difficult to find balanced information by suppressing stories that make liberal figures and/or policies look bad (Fast & Furious, Benghazi, etc.) and fabricating or embellishing stories that make conservatives look bad (War on Women, The Party of "NO," disdain for the 49%, etc.) Today's American media reminds me of the 1970s Soviet media who followed the Communist Party line. The only difference is that the Soviet media did it because they feared death while the media in this country does it because they ARE the liberals/socialists in this country.
Plus we don't have leaders who sell conservativism on a real way like Reagan. Ted Cruz can do it but he is still unknown to non politicals.
For a number of reasons, conservatives are terrible at explaining their philosophy. Part of the problem is that a lot of nominal conservatives don't understand it themselves, they just use it as a label to win elections in their locality. The Conservative Party in NYS is a prime example of this.
Conservatives argue for policies that make sense for everybody from a long-term perspective. But, liberals have learned that exploiting the short-term, and often emotional argument often wins the day. We see this over and over again. For instance, Republicans offer legislation that will bring our country back to fiscal responsibility and Democrats howl about all of the "programs" that will have to be cut to achieve the long-term goal. This is often followed by massive, coordinated, and media supported demagoguery with examples like cutting off granny from her medication or throwing poor children out of their houses. So, how do you convince a majority of voters that the conservative message of freedom and long-term prosperity are worth the inevitable real short-term sacrifices as well as the worse ones conjured by the MSM? A difficult question, but one we'll need to figure it out to be able to have any success at the polls.
Although I seem to agree with the majority amongst the listed responses, I am concerned that we are overlooking a mechanical issue. It seems that the multiple voting days/early voting are very much a tool for the ground game practitioners. From what I have gathered, political operatives are actually being provided with voter-specific information that allows them to determine whom has already cast a vote, and those that remain to be targeted. I can't imagine why that sort of specific information is released to anyone, prior to the closing of the polls. This reminds me of the problems with Card Check, as opposed to the secret ballot. I think states need to close down the information pipelines that are being tapped by political operatives, to better reflect potential voters' real enthusiasm for casting ballots.
Liberals do a far better job consolidating their base and marketing their message, especially to the potential voter who looks at the macro versus the micro view. Sure the liberals get plenty of help from media etc. but it is too often used as an excuse for lack of success. Mr. Breslow's post above was spot on about Reagan. He left out Reagan's ability to simplify a strong message and successfully market it to the population.
The biggest piece of why conservatives win on issues but loose elections comes down to group/identity politics and its explotation in the media. As long as people fall for political targeting as a group, it is hard for the individual liberty side to win. Many people may think competition is the best way to fix the banking industry, but also vote for who promises to favor them over another in some way. Unless someone can articulately explain that rights are individual not group based, conservative politicians often look less caring under the spotlight of an unfavorable media.
Your poll missed the big elephant in the room, Our candidates aren't conservative enough on the fiscal issues. They get to DC and start spending money like drunken liberals.
I've decided that people would rather have incompetent government than government they don't feel they can trust. And the distrust they have for Republicans is almost 100% media-generated (on behalf of Democrats, of course). IMO, Republicans are more trustworthy--though marginally so--than Democrats because they don't put on airs trying to be populist while smoking big cigars and courting the really big money behind the scenes. But there's a constant din of Republican-bashing as mean, hateful, bigoted, etc., etc., that permeates pop culture and carries over into society in general. And when Republicans try to counter the false narratives, they can't find a friendly camera or even a friendly pen. The only way we're going to be able to overcome this false narrative is to find another Reagan who has the presence and the exposure to stand up and put the lie to them. But it's going to have to be a President because the press assiduously avoids reporting any such attempts from Congress.
i believe that the conservatives when pushed by the media, do not act confidently enough to state their case and persuade others to the rightness of any issue, e.g. obamacare, the economy, job loss, immigration, benghazi. the "right" worries more about what the media will say and think, rather stand by their principles.
where oh where is ronald reagan the last really true conservative who had a set of principles he stood by.