A new Gallup poll released yesterday confirmed what most of us already know -- the Republican base, primarily made up of the Tea Party at this point, does not want Mr. Boehner to compromise on anything if it means giving up the efforts against abortion, NPR, PBS, Planned Parenthood, and the EPA.
WASHINGTON – A Gallup poll released Wednesday and circulated by Senate Democrats found that Americans decidedly want to see the two parties compromise and reach a budget deal. But a majority of Republicans wanted their leaders to "[h]old out for the basic budget plan they want, even if that means the government shuts down."
Americans decidedly want a compromise by a margin of 58 to 33 percent, the poll found. But Republicans prefer the hard line position 51 to 44 percent, in contrast with Democrats, who are willing to cede ground by a margin of 68 to 27 percent.
Ezra Klein provides the following graphs and takeaway.
The problem for Republicans is that what their base wants them to do is not what independents want them to do. Democrats, meanwhile, can work to prove their openness to compromise because that’s what both their base and independents want them to do. Their political incentives are a lot easier to navigate than the GOP’s.
The Tea Party is the gift that keeps on giving at this point. In the short term, they prove to be a barrier to progress in the nation, and a real pain in the ass. Not just to the sane people of the world, but Republicans too. In the long term, the Republican party is going to be crushed under the weight of their own ideology unless they do something about the Teabaggers very soon.
I can't say the same for the Firebaggers because, thankfully, they don't have the same kind of insidious influence over the Democratic leadership.