New Study shows Republicans the much more diverse party

LooseGoose wrote:Trump’s still sitting in the sweet spot of American politics

The question reveals a category mistake, the assumption that there is such a thing as the “Republican Party.”

In fact, there are three of them, and they’re all distinct. That became clear from a remarkable new analysis of voter preferences by Lee Drutman at the Voter Survey Group. Drutman asked voters to identify whom they voted for and how they felt about various economic and social issues. He then mapped this out in a diagram.

We’ve been told that Republicans are extreme and Democrats moderate. Drutman’s diagram shows that the opposite is true. Democratic voters congregated at the very economically and socially liberal corner. By contrast, the Republicans were all over the place.

The next surprise was the strength of Republican social conservatism. That’s something our “growth and opportunity” Republican establishment, and all the smart people at right-wing think tanks, never figured out. They saw the world only on an economic axis. How fellow Republicans might have felt about same-sex marriage and abortion was simply an embarrassment.

It turns out, however, that the Republican voter, unlike the party establishment, is socially conservative and economically middle of the road. In fact, there are a lot of left-of-center Republicans on economic issues such as free trade and Social Security.

But here’s Drutman’s big surprise. The sweet spot in American politics, the place where elections are won, is the socially conservative and economically liberal quadrant. And the winner is going to be the fellow who’s not going to touch Social Security and who promises to nominate a judge in the mold of Antonin Scalia.

Donald Trump, in other words.

GRR has mocked me repeatedly here for basing my support on the Supreme court, it seems that may be a pretty popular position - perhaps even a plurality in American politics.

The underlying study from Democracy Fund -
Political Divisions in 2016 and Beyond

To summarize, supporters of Clinton and Trump are very polarized on identity and moral issues. Views on economic issues are more of a mix. Both candidates’ supporters are generally supportive of the social safety net, and somewhat concerned about trade. Yet they diverge very much on how concerned they are about inequality, and how actively they want to see government regulate business and intervene in the economy.

LooseGoose wrote:Trump’s still sitting in the sweet spot of American politics

The question reveals a category mistake, the assumption that there is such a thing as the “Republican Party.”

In fact, there are three of them, and they’re all distinct. That became clear from a remarkable new analysis of voter preferences by Lee Drutman at the Voter Survey Group. Drutman asked voters to identify whom they voted for and how they felt about various economic and social issues. He then mapped this out in a diagram.

We’ve been told that Republicans are extreme and Democrats moderate. Drutman’s diagram shows that the opposite is true. Democratic voters congregated at the very economically and socially liberal corner. By contrast, the Republicans were all over the place.

The next surprise was the strength of Republican social conservatism. That’s something our “growth and opportunity” Republican establishment, and all the smart people at right-wing think tanks, never figured out. They saw the world only on an economic axis. How fellow Republicans might have felt about same-sex marriage and abortion was simply an embarrassment.

It turns out, however, that the Republican voter, unlike the party establishment, is socially conservative and economically middle of the road. In fact, there are a lot of left-of-center Republicans on economic issues such as free trade and Social Security.

But here’s Drutman’s big surprise. The sweet spot in American politics, the place where elections are won, is the socially conservative and economically liberal quadrant. And the winner is going to be the fellow who’s not going to touch Social Security and who promises to nominate a judge in the mold of Antonin Scalia.

Donald Trump, in other words.

GRR has mocked me repeatedly here for basing my support on the Supreme court, it seems that may be a pretty popular position - perhaps even a plurality in American politics.

The underlying study from Democracy Fund -
Political Divisions in 2016 and Beyond

To summarize, supporters of Clinton and Trump are very polarized on identity and moral issues. Views on economic issues are more of a mix. Both candidates’ supporters are generally supportive of the social safety net, and somewhat concerned about trade. Yet they diverge very much on how concerned they are about inequality, and how actively they want to see government regulate business and intervene in the economy.