From James Carville’s polling firm, a picture of the opposition emerges. Regarding President Obama, Carville’s partner said, “They want him to fail…It’s not just a political motivation, it’s an ethical imperative given what they think Obama’s goals are.” Here’s more:

The self-identifying conservative Republicans who make up the base of the Republican Party stand a world apart from the rest of America, according to focus groups conducted by Democracy Corps. 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.

It is indeed remarkable that America’s ideological split has come to resemble a barbell, with significant weights at either side. However, on some issues, notably health care, the numbers do not suggest that the conservative side is in the minority.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 at 8:40 am and is filed under business, Democrats, General, Polling, Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.