Conservative Republicans -- Living in a Dream World

by: mooncat

Fri Oct 16, 2009 at 13:37:36 PM CDT

Conservative Americans really are different, and it's because their view of reality is not what the rest of us see.  Democracy Corps has just released a new study: "The Very Separate World of Conservative Republicans."  It's a fascinating look at how conservative Republicans, who comprise 2/3 of the Republican Party, hold views that are just not present in the rest of the American electorate.  This has important implications for future elections as they demand their party move further away from mainstream America. Here are links to the study:

Analysis: Why Republican Leaders will have Trouble Speaking to the Rest of America

 

Memo (PDF)

Democracy Corps conducted focus group meetings with older, white Republican base voters in Georgia and, for comparison, parallel groups of older, white, non-college independents and weak partisans in suburban Cleveland.  The study was conducted right after Rep. Joe Wilson's "You lie!" incident at President Obama's health care address to a joint session of Congress.  One of assumptions going in was that race was a factor in Republican reactions to Obama so designers of the study took care to give participants a comfortable environment to talk about race, if they wanted to.  They allowed the discussion to go as long as possible without outside influences, and race didn't emerge as a significant factor related to Obama.  

Stan Greenberg and James Carville discussed the study with the media on a conference call this morning and said that, although the conservative Republican participants had no problem speaking about illegal immigrants in racial terms, that did not occur with President Obama. Instead, they actually think Obama has a secret agenda and was put in place by a secret power.  This is a pretty dominant view in the Republican Party.  The conservative Republicans studied also hold "startlingly negative" opinions of the Republican Party.  From the report, emphasis mine:

These base Republican voters dislike Barack Obama to be sure – which is not very surprising as base Democrats had few positive things to say about George Bush – but these voters identify themselves as part of a ‘mocked’ minority with a set of shared beliefs and knowledge, and commitment to oppose Obama that sets them apart from the majority in the country. They believe Obama is ruthlessly advancing a ‘secret agenda’ to bankrupt the United States and dramatically expand government control to an extent nothing short of socialism.  While these voters are disdainful of a Republican Party they view to have failed in its mission, they overwhelmingly view a successful Obama presidency as the destruction of this country’s founding principles and are committed to seeing the president fail.

Instead of focusing on these intense ideological divisions, the press and elites continue to look for a racial element that drives these voters’ beliefs – but they need to get over it.  Conducted on the heels of Joe Wilson’s incendiary comments at the president’s joint session address, we gave these groups of older, white Republican base voters in Georgia full opportunity to bring race into their discussion – but it did not ever become a central element, and indeed, was almost beside the point. 

The Republican base voters are not part of the continuum leading to the center of the electorate: they truly stand apart.

Emphasis is mine.  Other important findings were that the conservatives are extremely engaged, know that they are a minority, feel they have a special role to protect the country and the Constitution and that the conservative media, especially Fox News, plays a central role in this worldview.  They feel there is an ethical imperative to make sure Obama fails.

These voters are convinced there is nothing in Barack Obama's background as a community organizer (I'm guessing they forget the Harvard part of his background) that would allow him to legitimately rise to the level of the presidency.  There has to be secret money and power behind him, pulling strings and elevating him because he could never have done this on his own.  Ronald Reagan?  George W. Bush?  Where were the conspiracy theorists back then?  They think Obama is deceptive and particularly that he has hoodwinked young voters into supporting him.  

James Carville said there is nothing in this study that would make a Republican want to compromise on Obama's agenda and that elected Republicans will have to choose whether to be leaders in the party or national leaders. He also reflected that it will be very difficult to maintain this degree of energy through the 2010 elections over what is essentially a conspiracy theory and that the extreme dissatisfaction of base Republicans raises the possibility that a 3rd party could arise.  "Fraught with danger" was a phrase used.

I'm including some snippets from the report below the fold -- what the conservative Republicans actually said.  Fantasy Island stuff.  Any thoughts on what this implies for the 2010 election here in Alabama?

These comments are from conservative focus group participants:

You can’t openly criticize Obama.  If you do, you’ll be labeled as a racist.
 
Whatever we say about Obama, no matter what we say about him, it is a racial comment so you know, we can't say anything, we personally do not like him.  I don't care if he is purple, but whatever we say we're racist.
 
As far as a person goes, I don't want to say I hate him.  I don't like what he stands for… and I don't like what he is doing and the choices he is making, but I mean I don't know him as a gentleman so… You would be called a racist.  You would not like him because he is black.  That is what the media is saying.

I think basically we have a lot of the same views of Clinton as we do about Obama but most of us are freer to express it because we are not going to be accused of being racists.

I think he's got a hidden agenda… and I'm worried that we won't be able to undo what he has done in such a short time.
 
I mean that is when you start questioning, what is the agenda?  Because they are weakening us as a country to where we cannot afford so we are going to cry out or we are going to take what has been offered to us. 

I just think that Obama was molded and I think that he is being fed what he can and cannot do and what to do next and it seems like he is a puppet in this whole game.  I don't know who the people are behind him really but I don't think it is him.  I think it is some-
body, I think he is just the figurehead… I think it is George Soros… I do too… Is he the guy with money?... Yes… They say follow the money.
 
I think he has a money person behind him that has planned this long before because he has gotten pushed into a position that is unbelievable for a community organizer…I come from Chicago so I know how he got there and I don't like his tentacles into ACORN and
everything else that are subsidiaries and it all goes back… He couldn't do it by himself.

A lot of it we don't really know because they are over here in the dark and they are keeping it a secret and it is like we can see it happening but we can't get in there and have an effect on it. 
 
The word scary just keeps coming up.  That is why I can't watch him.  He scares me to death.

I think the whole basis is let’s ram it through while we have the numbers, while we have the popularity and while maybe people don’t know what’s going on… Once it’s through it’s awful hard to repeal… Yeah, that’s right; government programs never go away and time is not on his side.

Well the guy is very smart and it’s like he’s trying to say the right things while he’s just going right along barreling towards his, what he’s shooting for, which is a socialist nation.

Everybody he appointed couldn't make it onto whatever post it was because they had dirt in their background.  I mean you are who you hang out with, which is what I tell the kids.

I don't want the government involved in any decision making when it comes to my family and I think most people feel that way and when you start to talk about government getting involved in those decisions it is reminiscent to me of Soylent Green, if you have ever seen that movie, but that is not an option.

The media will not give anyone a fair chance that is a conservative.
 
Well, the media has always been liberal.  They never ever did the conservative side.  If you always look, you know they never do… Yeah, but it is to the point of embarrassment.  I think I would be embarrassed if I was a newscaster.

Media, mainstream media is basically in the back pocket of the Democrats… There’s only one FOX … There’s only one FOX.
 
It has been publicized on FOX News and the mainstream media is not reporting on such vital issues that people should know about and that is why people that don’t follow…
 
I have to confess when I’m in an establishment and they have, I feel a little differently if they have CNN on the TV up in the corner or if they have FOX News.  I think people think FOX News is right wing when actually everything is so left it appears that FOX News is right wing.  When FOX is actually, if you take out their commentators, they are very middle of the road.  CNN, I just can’t even watch it.

He underestimated the American people that he just spread so much stuff, have so much going on that nobody could put their finger on it, but it’s just awakened people.  He’s being watched very carefully, every move he makes.
 
I think people are listening… It is the underground movement going on... I think people are listening to what he is saying, but to others as well.  And he may plant a seed and then it takes other people to get things rolling.  He is not out there organizing for differ-
ent tea parties or things to be going on.  Somebody is saying you know maybe I can do that.

I want to get back to the principles on which we were founded, the principles that say, In God We Trust, which is written above in that, in the House, what do you call it, the Speaker's House, is that where it is.  I forget where it is.  Anyway, In God We Trust.

When Republicans try to be like Democrat-lite they’re, number one they’re not going to convert any Democrats to them and they’re just going to lose conservatives.

On Rush Limbaugh:

He speaks his mind… I'm glad that he has a platform… I'm glad a lot of conservatives have platforms on the radio or television.

On Glenn Beck:

I think the guy’s brilliant.  No one goes after him because he does his homework.  He checks, double checks, triple checks and he says he refuses to put it on the air unless it’s been checked a hundred different times.  So when you can’t get at him, you start calling
him names and start digging into his past.

I fear for his life… He is heavily secured believe me.

Watch and listen.  Well I don't watch anymore because we are unemployed and I had to cancel cable but I listen to him on the radio… I catch the last half hour of his show everyday because I get home from work… I record it… My 16-year-old watches Beck.  She says, is it recorded?  I hope you didn't delete it yet.  There's hope.

On George H. W. Bush:

I didn’t know how good we had it when he was in office.  He seems conservative.  

On George W. Bush:

You know, I think he made bad decisions down the line… but I don’t know that anyone could have done any better under those circumstances.

On Sarah Palin:

You betcha… Spicy… Honest… Go girl… Forthright. Right up there… Says what she feels.
 
I just hope that Sarah Palin has Hillary's backbone because she is going to need it and that is the thing.  I would vote for her in a heartbeat.  I love Sarah Palin. 

Everybody went after her with big, the guns loaded.  I mean that poor lady didn't have a chance.  Between the media and they were digging up every single piece of dirt.  They just, she was the threat.  I really think she was a threat to them and they did her dirty.  I really think they did her dirty.
 
I think that the media is totally, I think she’s been totaled, I don’t know how to say this, the media has just piled on her like I’ve never seen.    Talking about being made fun of…