Why The Republican Party Isn't Concerned With Popularity

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

After Mitt Romney lost the 2012 presidential election, the Republican National Committee published what became known as the “GOP autopsy report,” an effort to identify and address the party’s ongoing political weaknesses. But eight years later, after losing another close race, the GOP appears wholly uninterested in reviewing or reforming its agenda. In fact, despite capturing the presidency, the Democratic Party has been far more interested in developing an attractive issue agenda. “There is only one political party that is terrified of losing an election because it looks too extreme,” said Seth Masket, a FiveThirtyEight contributor and political scientist at the University of Denver. “There’s a huge party asymmetry.”

But despite the fact that the GOP is quite unpopular and that much of its current agenda — such as overturning the Affordable Care Act or advancing restrictive immigration policies — does not appeal to a majority of voters, the party is in an enviable position heading into the 2022 midterm elections and beyond. What is to make of this glaring disconnect?

-snip-

But the biggest reason why the GOP may not be pushing more popular policies is that recent history suggests it’s unnecessary. Former President Trump’s startling 2016 election victory showed that an unpopular candidate with little interest in public policy can still win. For conservative activists disappointed in the outcomes of Romney’s and the late Sen. John McCain’s campaigns, the lesson of 2016 was that political candidates with personal baggage or extreme political views are no longer a liability.

The current structure of the Electoral College and the U.S. Senate also allows Republican candidates wider discretion in eschewing popular legislation. For instance, former FiveThirtyEight reporter Perry Bacon Jr. argued last March that the GOP’s structural advantages over the Democratic Party has allowed legislators to pursue more conservative policies than the average voter prefers. And as Laura Bronner and Nathaniel Rakich also wrote at FiveThirtyEight, Republicans have done this while often being in the minority: “Republican senators have not represented a majority of the population since 1999 — yet, from 2003 to 2007 and again from 2015 to 2021,Republicans had a majority of members of the Senate itself. That means that, for 10 years, Republican senators were passing bills — and not passing others — on behalf of a minority of Americans.” Furthermore, gerrymandering, particularly in state-legislative races, insulates Republican members from popular sentiment.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-the-republican-party-isnt-concerned-with-popularity/

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. This is an excellent analysis!

They have built in their own protection against popular views. Very clever of them.

Now that we’re aware, perhaps we can do something to counteract this situation.

[Baked Potato]

2. Republicans have ballyhooed their willfully disengaged

followers into a simpleton paradise where one doesn’t need to be mindful of anything but knowing:

“We are against anything Democrats want or do and we will protect you from them.”

This is the desired end result of 40+ years of relentless unified messaging by Right Wing influencers. They have long been on the wrong side of the majority of Americans as pertains to commonsense issues such as healthcare, environmental policy and gun control.

The GOP has really latched onto a core strategy of culture warfare. They rely on symbols, slogans and emotions. They have conditioned their electorate to not expect anything else and their constituency rewards them for it.

[msongs]

3. RIP the 50 state strategy nt