The Republican Party Seems Mighty Fractious, But How Much Does That Matter?

Mike Lee threatens to shut down the government if he's not put in the picture

Republicans are tearing each other apart over a number of issues. In the last few days that's been personified by the increasingly bitter personal exchanges between domestic spying advocate and Establishment whore Chris Christie and Kentucky libertarian/Tea Party isolationist Rand Paul. But an even bigger battle is brewing over a vote-- the "continuing resolution"-- to fund government operations.

Neo-fascist Utah freshman Mike Lee sees a noisy nihilistic battle over this as a way to pump up his name recognition nationally so he can be mentioned as a contender just like fellow right-wing freshmen Cruz, Paul and Rubio. He's circulating a letter insisting that unless Obama halt implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the GOP will shut down the government. Although a number of dull, zombie-like Republicans immediately jumped aboard, McConnell persuaded almost all of them to "unsign" Lee's dangerous letter. The only ones left on board are Rubio, still trying to make up with teabaggers for pushing immigration reform, John Thune and Oklahoma crackpot James Inhofe. Teabaggers in the House led by Indiana radical Marlin Stutzman, have their own similar letter they're circulating to try to force poor, pathetic Boehner to shut the government down; there are already a few dozen signers. Tuesday Bob Corker (R-TN) called the strategy a "silly effort... These people are just taking themselves out of the debate." That's a more diplomatic way of saying what Richard Burr (R-NC) said last week: "The dumbest idea I've ever heard."

The National Review's editor, Ramesh Ponnuru, thinks Lee is wasting everyone's time (and political capital). Earlier this week he wrote that "conservatives on Capitol Hill think they have a chance to strike a mortal blow against President Barack Obama's health-care overhaul this fall. If their plan goes forward, however, it will backfire... Either would be highly unpopular, and each party would blame the other. The public, however, would almost certainly blame Republicans, for five reasons. First, Republicans are less popular than the Democrats and thus all else equal will lose partisan finger-pointing contests. Second, the executive has natural advantages over a group of legislators in a crisis atmosphere. Third, people will be naturally inclined to assume that the more anti-government party must be responsible. Fourth, some Republicans will say that government shutdowns or defaults are just what the country needs, and those quotes will affect the image of all Republicans. And fifth, the news media will surely side with the Democrats."

Other senators who have spoken out against this publicly include John McCain's Maverick personality: "Some of my Republican colleagues are already saying we won't raise the debt limit unless there's repeal of Obamacare. I'd love to repeal Obamacare, but I promise you that's not going to happen on the debt limit. So some would like to set up another one of these shutdown-the-government threats. And most Americans are really tired of those kinds of shenanigans here in Washington." His little sidekick Lindsey asked "How do you fund the military" if we shit down the government? And Inhofe's Oklahoma colleague, Tom Coburn isn't having any of it either: "It's not an achievable strategy. It's creating the false impression that you can do something when you can't. And it's dishonest."

While Rand Paul was on Fox with Hannity last week, he took time away from insinuating Chris Christie doesn't have the self-control to go on a diet so he wouldn't have the self-control to be a disciplined GOP candidate to deride his own craven party caucus. Hannity, who, obviously is all gung-ho on a government shutdown, even if he doesn't understand the issue, managed to work a question into his propagandistic outburst: "What I like about Mike Lee's plan though is he's going to fund the entire rest of the government except for Obamacare. You pass those appropriations. And then it's up to the Democrats. Do they want to shut down the government over Obamacare? I guess they can. But that's their choice. Right? Do you think the Republicans have the courage to do that?

Rand had a direct enough answer to the windy question. "Frankly, probably not." But that won't stop Mike Lee, who, like I said up top, is just looking to make a splash for himself outside Utah. Yesterday, the NY Times reported on a new poll from Pew showing that Republican voters are at odds with their party's leadership and direction. And there is no consensus about which way to take the struggling party.

No single Republican stood out as the face or voice of the party: 22 percent of respondents volunteered the answer “nobody” when asked who led their party. The most mentioned name, House Speaker John A. Boehner, garnered only 9 percent.

...Among those who said changes in policy standpoints were necessary, the most commonly cited issues were immigration and abortion, followed by gay marriage.

Regarding specific policies, the general sentiment for Republicans was to move further right, particularly on government spending. On immigration, about 4 in 10 Republicans said the party’s position was “about right,” while the same number said Republicans were not conservative enough. On gun policy, most Republicans agreed with their party’s stance.

However, on gay marriage, Republicans were almost evenly scattered, with 33 percent saying the position was about right, 31 percent saying the party’s stand was too conservative, 27 percent saying it was not conservative enough. On abortion, 4 in 10 Republicans said their party’s position was about right, but half of Republicans were divided on whether it should be more moderate or more conservative. (Asking voters whether about their party’s approach to an issue is conservative enough or too conservative has two drawbacks: First, there’s a level of subjectivity-- each person’s definition of conservative can vary-- and second, the question requires the respondent to have knowledge about the party’s stance on the issue.)

What may be most worrisome for Republican leaders is the declining number of Americans who see themselves as Republicans, and the growing ranks of independents. In this most recent Pew poll, just 19 percent identified as Republican, a steady decline from the 30 percent who identified as Republican a decade ago. When those who said they were independent but leaned Republican are included, the total Republicans grow to 37 percent, just slightly down from 42 percent in 2003. Pew’s recent poll found 29 percent of Americans identified as Democrats, roughly the same as the 32 percent who said so in 2003. However, when including leaners, Democrats are holding steadier numbers, with a total 47 percent today, compared to 44 percent in 2003.