The aging face of the GOP
By Libby
We've heard a lot about Republican dissatisfaction within the ranks but this is a new wrinkle on the polling. Pensito Review points us to another relevant phenomenon within the party structure. Republicans are getting older.
And some are even getting wiser.
Click over to Pensito for a breakdown on the subgroups according to ideology. The list itself is amusing. I loved the description for Bush hawks.
It's obvious this is bad news for the GOP. They are not only losing their wider base on the issues, their remaining true loyalists are going to be dying out. Another blow for Rove's 100 year majority plan.
We've heard a lot about Republican dissatisfaction within the ranks but this is a new wrinkle on the polling. Pensito Review points us to another relevant phenomenon within the party structure. Republicans are getting older.
The percentage of Republican age 55 and older grew from 28 percent in 1997 to 41 percent now, while the number of 18- to 37-year-olds dropped from 25 percent to 17 percent.
And some are even getting wiser.
[By] a margin of 53 percent to 42 percent Republicans believe that “The Republican Party has spent too much time focusing on moral issues such as abortion and gay marriage and should instead be spending time focusing on economic issues such as taxes and government spending.”
Click over to Pensito for a breakdown on the subgroups according to ideology. The list itself is amusing. I loved the description for Bush hawks.
It's obvious this is bad news for the GOP. They are not only losing their wider base on the issues, their remaining true loyalists are going to be dying out. Another blow for Rove's 100 year majority plan.
Labels: Media, Republicans
posted by Libby Spencer at 9:26 PM
4 Comments:
You are engaged in a very basic misinterpretation of data.
All this study actually finds is that (a) the general level of GOP identification has declined, and, (b) in 2007, the level of GOP identification among the younger demographic is especially low.
This apparent "aging" is merely a shift in preferences, driven by discrete political events.
The Fabrizio study does NOT justify a conclusion that the GOP's "true loyalists are ... dying out." One might have said the same thing in any other disaster-struck period in which the GOP was unpopular with younger voters -- 1933, 1961, 1974, 1992. And in each case, the prediction would have been wrong.
Well, you analyze your way, I analyze mine. You're probably right mathematically, but times change and so do the value of the metrics.
The cycles you cite were prior to the internets and the information age. I wouldn't be surprised if a similar phenomenon was taking place within the Dems as well.
I think it all indicates the country is ripe for a third party to emerge.
there's no needfor a thridparty. all that has to happen is the media, including this blog, needs to stop the ron paul blackout.
Lester - What are you talking about? I'm not blacking out Ron Paul. I've written about him as much as I write about any of the candidates. Not to mention, I did a couple of posts at DetNews that generated a lot of commentary.
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