Research 2000 doesn’t have very good news for the GOP:
…the Republican Party’s favorability is very weak in Northeast (7% to 87%), and only marginally better in the Midwest (13% to 78%) and West (14% to 75%). In the South, however, 50% have a favorable opinion of the GOP, and only 37% have an unfavorable view.
Now, as then, a Dixie-oriented movement like this won’t remotely capture the White House. Now, unlike then, it is a catastrophe for the Republicans. The old G.O.P. Southern strategy is gone with the wind. The more the party is identified with nasty name-calling, freak-show protestors, immigrant-bashing (the proximate cause of [Joe] Wilson’s outburst at Obama) and, yes, racism, the faster it will commit demographic suicide as America becomes ever younger and more diverse. But Democrats shouldn’t be cocky. Over the short term, the real economic grievances lurking beneath the extremism of the Beck brigades can do damage to both parties. A stopped clock is right twice a day. The recession-spawned anger that Beck has tapped into on the right could yet find a more mainstream outlet in a populist revolt from the left and center.
The catch here is that the Democrats can’t really seem to get their shit together. If they could take a strong stand on, say, healthcare and actually lead, they’d be able to seize the initiative. Instead, Harry Reid is blowing it.
The thing the Democrats should always bear in mind is the American people’s uncanny knack for shooting themselves in the foot. Americans will choose the wrong leaders for the wrong reasons in spite of themselves. They’ll vote for crazy Republicans if the crazy Republicans appear to be “stronger” than the other guys. And the consequences will be predictably tragic. It’s the Democrats’ game to lose.
