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The current state of American politics presents a paradox. On the one hand, survey after survey
testifies to the rock-bottom standing of the Republican Party. Fewer
Americans identify with the party than in the past, and fewer trust it
to deal with the country’s problems. On the other hand, there are
hard-to-ignore signs of a conservative resurgence. A 15,000 person Gallup survey
out today shows that 40 percent of
Americans now identify themselves as
conservative (up from 37 percent at the time of Obama’s election),
while only 20 percent regard themselves as liberal (down from 22
percent). Far more independents (35 percent) consider themselves
conservative than was the case a year ago (only 29 percent).
These findings would be less compelling if they were not linked to
conservative shifts on specific issues--but they are, and the Galluporganization
enumerates a considerable list. Among them: increasing
opposition to government regulation of business and gun ownership; an
uneasy feeling about the influence of labor unions; increasing support
for immigration restrictions and government promotion of traditional
values; and diminished support for strong action on climate change. The
percentage of Americans who believe that government is trying to do too
much stands at its highest level (57 percent) in many years. Trust in
government is near all-time lows, and Americans believe that 50 cents
of every federal tax dollar is wasted--the highest level ever.
It is hard to avoid the conclusion that unified Democratic
government has sparked a conservative counter-mobilization. Because we
cannot rerun history as a controlled experiment, we will never know
whether this could have been avoided had the Obama administration and
Congressional Democrats adopted a different strategy. In any case, it’s
too late to reverse it. [cont>>]
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