Democrats Closer To Independents In All Fifty States

[Shoeempress]

Nationwide, Democrats were more than 25 points closer to Independents than were Republicans. The enormous gaps are not just in the Kerry states either...

Here's the link

http://www.mydd.com/story/2005/8/17/144810/113

[eallen]

1. Democrats are not cohesive.

There's a real sense, in today's politics, where the GOP is the party of the religious right and the neocons, while the Democratic party is simply "everyone else." We see it here on DU, where there are the socialists who want to boot out the DLC, and the liberal Christians, and the secularists, and I suspect several other groupings. None of those groups is large enough in their own right to be much of a political force.

[Old and In the Way]

2. That's the nature of our politics.

We don't groupthink like the Right. But more and more people are understanding that we have shared interests that over-ride our particular political pre-dispositions.

I can't wait for the day when we are back to flaming each other on matters of policy minutae.

[Pig_Latin_Lover]

3. Definitely true with today's government, but...

I do think that the "Right" (if you can even call it that these days) has a lot of diversity.

You have your "Get your government out of my home" libertarians.
You have your "I think the rich should get richer" rich Republicans.
Your "I think family is a good thing" suburban Republicans.
Your "God talks to George Bush and I truly believe we are living in the End Times" Republicans.

Of course, the groupthink really does all settle in when they are all herded to the voting line to vote straight party like cattle.

[eallen]

4. The libertarians are peeling off. I'm an ardent civil libertarian...

With many libertarian friends. Most of them voted Kerry last year. There's simply no compatibility between an interest in civil liberty, and a party that represents the religious right. George Bush doesn't want to get the government out of your bedroom. He wants to kick down the door, without a warrant, and prosecute you if your sex life isn't straight and narrow.

[TorchTheWitch]

5. You forgot the "I just want less taxes

but want more services, healthcare, privacy, better jobs, a better salary, cheap goods, clean air/water, etc." stupid Republicans... their ideology is Democratic (even liberal) but the meme "those Democrats will raise my taxes" has them voting Repuke. I run into more of these types then any other kind of Repuke.

I also sometimes run into the strict "Republicans are easier to bribe" really stupid Repukes. Why spend money to bribe a Repuke when a Democrat would just give you what you want because it's something you're entitled to anyway? Funny to watch them try to wrap their heads around that one.

[jsamuel]

6. shoot, I'm an Independent...