So this came up on Political Wire and I thought it was interesting. They conducted focus groups with older, white, conservative Republicans in Georgia to draw conclusions on their beliefs. I thought it was a biography of Blue Eyed Devil, it was so spot on to him. before you jump all over it, yes, the link to the story I posted is from Democracy Corps’ website, that’s where politicalwire.com linked to it.
Overview
The self-identifying conservative Republicans who make up the base of the Republican Party stand a world apart from the rest of America, according to focus groups conducted by Democracy Corps. These base Republican voters dislike Barack Obama to be sure – which is not very surprising as base Democrats had few positive things to say about George Bush – but these voters identify themselves as part of a ‘mocked’ minority with a set of shared beliefs and knowledge, and commitment to oppose Obama that sets them apart from the majority in the country. They believe Obama is ruthlessly advancing a ‘secret agenda’ to bankrupt the United States and dramatically expand government control to an extent nothing short of socialism. They overwhelmingly view a successful Obama presidency as the destruction of this country’s founding principles and are committed to seeing the president fail.
Instead of focusing on these intense ideological divisions, the press and elites continue to look for a racial element that drives these voters’ beliefs – but they need to get over it. Conducted on the heels of Joe Wilson’s incendiary comments at the president’s joint session address, we gave these groups of older, white Republican base voters in Georgia full opportunity to bring race into their discussion – but it did not ever become a central element, and indeed, was almost beside the point.
First and foremost, these conservative Republican voters believe Obama is deliberately and ruthlessly advancing a ‘secret agenda’ to bankrupt our country and dramatically expand government control over all aspects of our daily lives. They view this effort in sweeping terms, and cast a successful Obama presidency as the destruction of the United States as it was conceived by our founders and developed over the past 200 years. This concern combines with a profound sense of collective identity. They readily identify themselves as a minority in this country – a minority whose values are mocked and attacked by a liberal media and class of elites. They also believe they possess a level of knowledge and understanding when it comes to politics and current events, one gained from a rejection of the mainstream media and an embrace of conservative media and pundits such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, which sets them apart even more.
Looking at the current political debate, it was evident in our focus group discussions that the divide between conservative Republicans and even the most conservative-leaning independents remains very, very wide. Independents harbor doubts about Obama’s health care reform but are desperate to see some version of health care reform pass this year; the conservative Republicans view any health care reform as a victory for Obama and are militantly opposed. The language they use further reflects this divide. Conservative Republicans fully embrace the ‘socialism’ attacks on Obama and believe it is the best, most accurate way to describe him and his agenda. Independents largely dismiss these attacks as partisan rhetoric detracting from a legitimate debate about what many of them do see as excessive government control and spending.
Democracy Corps is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to making the government of the United States more responsive to the American people. It was founded in 1999 by James Carville and Stanley Greenberg.
moore is a puppet and has a ceiling that he s not aloud to go passed with facts in his documentaries, because if he did, the corporate controlled hollywood would never let his movies hit major theatres. Obama and bush are the same thing. There are a few republicans who criticized bush constantly throughout his 2 terms because of his war crimes and needless spending, well, one at least…They are both expanding government power and spending, you didnt vote for any change and the fact that his approval ratings slipped 15% in the first 2 weeks of his presidency and continue to slip now shouldnt surpirse anyone.
let me guess, obama wants to destroy the country? only then from the ashes of failed capitalism can he rebuild the USA as a socialist / communist nation.
Lets see
No race card- CHECK
First and foremost, these conservative Republican voters believe Obama is deliberately and ruthlessly advancing a ‘secret agenda’ to bankrupt our country and dramatically expand government control over all aspects of our daily lives.CHECK
They view this effort in sweeping terms, and cast a successful Obama presidency as the destruction of the United States as it was conceived by our founders and developed over the past 200 years. CHECK
This concern combines with a profound sense of collective identity. They readily identify themselves as a minority in this country NO
whose values are mocked and attacked by a liberal media and class of elites. CHECK
They also believe they possess a level of knowledge and understanding when it comes to politics and current events, one gained from a rejection of the mainstream media and an embrace of conservative media and pundits such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, which sets them apart even more. CHECK
I’d say you’re pretty spot on, BED. Ever think about moving to Georgia?
And ZK, it’s difficult to put people in a focus group together if they’re in different states. They wanted conservative republicans to understand more about their beliefs.
Joe, I was more making the point that you can take old ignorant southern conservatives and get exactly what you have here. You can also take young ignorant kids on the left and have the anti argument to this.
