Democratic Party More Extreme Voters Say in Poll

Particularly in Texas motivating disillusioned Democrats & appealing to independents moving to GOP an uphill battle prior to Nov. 2nd election. Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas The revelations of a survey of 10 toss-up Congressional Districts across the country point to problems for Democrats. 44 of likely voters think the Democratic party is too extreme as opposed to 37 who think that the GOP is too extreme.    According to this poll 22 of Democrats think their own party is too extreme (11 of Republicans think the same of their own party) and the breakdown of independent voters is virtually identical (43/37) to that of likely voters.    Given that Democrats across the nation and many Austin analysts think particularly so in Texas are trying to motivate a disillusioned base and appeal to independents prior the Nov. 2 election the data surprised Democratic strategists and political experts in a campaign season when much of the media attention has been focused on the perceived battle between the GOP establishment and Tea Party-backed candidates. Most say it suggests problems for a Democratic Party seen as too liberal. Thats real trouble for Democrats" said Jim Kessler co-founder of the Third Way a centrist Democratic think tank.

All the press coverage has been about how these Tea Party candidates are fringe ideologues and there have been high-profile examples of them proving the point" he added. Yet still at this moment you have independents saying I think the Democrats are a little more extreme than the Republicans.

Its the 1-in-5 of Democrats thats the most interesting. This result comes from The Hill 2010 Midterm Election Poll. (Details may be reviewed here.) Consider that the districts being surveyed are a pretty good mix of Red and Blue but did not have much in the way of hyper-Blue urban areas.  What the surveying seems to indicate is that in the suburban and mildly urban areas voters are now begining to openly move toward the Republican candidates. And in placestraditionally voting Democratic candidates appear to be taking a bit of a a beating.  Why?  One argument is that its because ordinary decent Democrats are noticing that their leadership is somewhat at odds with the regular party voter:

It is a reflection that the faces of leadership of the Democrats in government are seen as very liberal faces: Reid House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Calif. and Obama" former GOP Congressman Vin Weber said. The leading faces of the Republican Party arent that well-known." Democratic Party strategists have tried to change that dynamic working to raise the profile of House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio) who would be in line to replace Pelosi as Speaker in the event of a GOP victory in the House. But that effort has shown limited success.

Boehner was given credit by-and-large for his work as Minority Leader in holding the GOP House Caucus together during the 111th Congress on a number of what turned out to be in hindight critical votes. When compared to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who many Democrats now say jammed President Barack Obamas health care bill through Congress over the objections of even some in her own Caucus many Democrats  wonder why independent voters arent buying what theyre selling this cycle (sic). The survey also showed that a majority of Democratic voters want their Congressional representatives to work harder to achieve compromise with Republicans. Fifty-eight percent of Democrats said they would urge the lawmaker they supported to look for compromises across the aisle". Only 35 would rather urge their representatives to stay firm on their principles." But liberal opinion leaders reject this argument. Charles Chamberlain political director of Democracy for America a grassroots advocacy group founded by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean urged Democratic leaders not to abandon liberal principles to work with Republicans.  The back-and-forth among Democrats is the precursor to an intra-party debate that will likely grow sharper in the 112th Congress. Republicans on the other hand are not looking for their representatives in Congress to compromise. 62 of Republican voters said they would urge their lawmakers to stand firm on their principles while 32 said they should look for compromise with Democrats.