blackascoal
The Force is With Me
As Trump Governs For His Base, The Republican Party Is Shrinking
Tossing his base almost nothing but red meat and constant divisive rhetoric isn’t just driving wedges between Republicans, it’s making them leave the party.
... there’s a catch to this overwhelming support from Republican voters. One of the biggest reasons why it’s so high is because the party itself has been shrinking to Trump’s most loyal and devoted followers. Rather than commanding the close to unanimous support of half the nation, his base accounts for slightly more than one-fifth of the electorate. Other presidents who saw similar displays of absolute devotion from a shrinking number of voters? Nixon as Watergate was reaching a fever pitch, and George W. Bush towards the end of his second term as the Great Recession was revving up. However, the situation with Trump is even worse. Nixon and Bush The Lesser merely lost the party’s support. Trump is actively making it smaller and more extreme.
Meanwhile, in the 28 states allowing voters to specify a party preference, Democrats have an 11% lead on Republicans and a higher self-affiliation percentage. It’s not exactly that the party has grown but that it held steady and is seeing booming support from Millennials, who will soon be the largest voting bloc in the nation. At the same time, the number of independents, or voters who choose not to affiliate with a party, has surged. This is also good news for Democrats because even after adjusting for partisan preferences among independent voters, they still have a nearly 10% lead on the GOP. So in short, the Republican Party is whittling itself down to The Party of Trump while the Democratic Party is holding steady and seeing more interest among undecided and swing voters.
https://rantt.com/as-trump-governs-for-his-base-the-republican-party-is-shrinking/
Brookings Institute: Trump owns a shrinking Republican party
A political party that can’t attract young people, especially in a generation that is as big as the Millennial generation—America’s largest demographic group—is not a party with a very bright future. So although Trump, while focusing on the base, has made the Republican Party his, come November it may not be as much of an advantage.
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2018/06/14/trump-owns-a-shrinking-republican-party/
Great strategy.
Tossing his base almost nothing but red meat and constant divisive rhetoric isn’t just driving wedges between Republicans, it’s making them leave the party.
... there’s a catch to this overwhelming support from Republican voters. One of the biggest reasons why it’s so high is because the party itself has been shrinking to Trump’s most loyal and devoted followers. Rather than commanding the close to unanimous support of half the nation, his base accounts for slightly more than one-fifth of the electorate. Other presidents who saw similar displays of absolute devotion from a shrinking number of voters? Nixon as Watergate was reaching a fever pitch, and George W. Bush towards the end of his second term as the Great Recession was revving up. However, the situation with Trump is even worse. Nixon and Bush The Lesser merely lost the party’s support. Trump is actively making it smaller and more extreme.
Meanwhile, in the 28 states allowing voters to specify a party preference, Democrats have an 11% lead on Republicans and a higher self-affiliation percentage. It’s not exactly that the party has grown but that it held steady and is seeing booming support from Millennials, who will soon be the largest voting bloc in the nation. At the same time, the number of independents, or voters who choose not to affiliate with a party, has surged. This is also good news for Democrats because even after adjusting for partisan preferences among independent voters, they still have a nearly 10% lead on the GOP. So in short, the Republican Party is whittling itself down to The Party of Trump while the Democratic Party is holding steady and seeing more interest among undecided and swing voters.
https://rantt.com/as-trump-governs-for-his-base-the-republican-party-is-shrinking/
Brookings Institute: Trump owns a shrinking Republican party
A political party that can’t attract young people, especially in a generation that is as big as the Millennial generation—America’s largest demographic group—is not a party with a very bright future. So although Trump, while focusing on the base, has made the Republican Party his, come November it may not be as much of an advantage.
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2018/06/14/trump-owns-a-shrinking-republican-party/
Great strategy.
