Comments on: Bush-Hating Republicans?

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:50:12 +0000

I'm surprised you characterize Bainbridge this way. My impression is that he is a social conservative.

He's a devout Catholic, which makes him socially conservative. Politically, though, he's a self-professed RINO who's primarily interested in free markets.

By: Kent

Kent — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:35:48 +0000

"My guess is that the Republicans most disgusted with Bush are those who identify with the party on fiscal and security issues and put up with the social agenda out of necessity. But Brooks, Sullivan, Steve Bainbridge, and other intellectuals comprise such a small percentage of the party as to be a rounding error in the polls."

I'm surprised you characterize Bainbridge this way. My impression is that he is a social conservative.

By: Chris Lawrence

Chris Lawrence — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:51:22 +0000

My recollection of the numbers on Congress, probably from one of Charles Franklin's analyses, is that neither Democrats nor Republicans have very high approval of Congress at present (as of a couple of months ago), although it's higher among Dems than the GOP. Different driving forces, though: the in-party disapproves of Congress' performance because of its inability to follow-through on campaign promises, while the out-party disapproves due to their party being in the minority.

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:03:38 +0000

P.S. Should we apply the logic of this post and assume that because Congress is controlled by Democrats and 25% of people approve of Congress, then most Democrats approve of Congress? ;-)

After a quick search, I haven't found any polls that broke it down by party ID. It's probably safe to assume, though, that most who approve of Congress are Democrats.

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 19:07:33 +0000

fails to account for people who have left the party in the last six years. Well, that wasn't the question! The trends over the last 15 years or so have party ID fluctuating within a pretty thin band. It's remarkably stable, really. There just hasn't been an ideological realignment in 30 years or so, when the Southern Democrats slowly started peeling off to the GOP. There are likely some number of libertarian-conservatives who have gotten disgusted enough with the GOP to quit calling themselves "Republicans" and some subset of that group may even stop showing to vote for Republicans. The aggregate numbers don't really show much, though.

By: Matthew Stinson

Matthew Stinson — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 19:04:08 +0000

Well, my apologies to James and my namesake Mr. Yglesias, but I think it'd be better (science!) to look at Bush's approval by party breakdown. I'd guess that Bush has support from some independents and a plurality of but not all Republicans. Gallup has some relevant data here and, just eyeballing it, Bush seems to have around 80% of Republicans, 25% of independents, and 2-3% of Democrats supporting him. At least one-fifth of Republicans might be disgusted with Bush. We can also consider tracking whether the rise in registered independents is totally at the GOP's expense. The Republicans who hate Bush might not be Republicans anymore. Any polls on this shift? P.S. Should we apply the logic of this post and assume that because Congress is controlled by Democrats and 25% of people approve of Congress, then most Democrats approve of Congress? ;-)

By: Stormy Dragon

Stormy Dragon — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:50:28 +0000

What about conservatives who hate Bush though? Even though the majority of Republicans may still support Bush, your analysis fails to account for people who have left the party in the last six years.