GOP Is "Extreme" And "Out Of Touch"

The chart above is from the Pew Research Center, and it shows the favorability of the two political parties in the eyes of the American public. Back in 2010, the two parties had an equal favorability rating -- somewhere in the high 30's. But since then the GOP has seized control of the House of Representatives, and refused to cooperate or compromise with the president on anything. Because of that the favorability of the Republican Party has gone down, while the Democratic Party favorability has risen -- with the Democrats now standing at 47% and the Republicans at 33% (a whopping 14 point difference).

The Pew Research Center survey (Taken between January 19th and 13th) also asked some other questions about the two parties, and the Republicans didn't fare too well on those either -- with the GOP being viewed as "out of touch" and "extreme". Here are those numbers for the two parties:

OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
Republicans - yes...............62%
Republicans - no...............33%
Democrats - yes...............46%
Democrats - no...............50%

TOO EXTREME
Republicans - yes...............52%
Republicans - no...............42%
Democrats - yes...............39%
Democrats - no...............56%

IS OPEN TO CHANGE
Republicans - yes...............39%
Republicans - no...............56%
Democrats - yes...............58%
Democrats - no...............38%

LOOKS OUT FOR THE COUNTRY'S FUTURE
Republicans - yes...............45%
Republicans - no...............50%
Democrats - yes...............51%
Democrats - no...............45%

While those might not be great numbers for the Democrats, they are truly abysmal numbers for the Republicans. A majority of Americans believe the GOP is extreme, out of touch, not open to change, and doesn't look out for the future of the country. Majorities believe the opposite about the Democrats. In case you believe the Democrats may have skewed the poll, here are the numbers of what only the Independents think (the percentages shown are those who said yes):

OUT OF TOUCH
Republicans...............65%
Democrats...............51%

TOO EXTREME
Republicans...............51%
Democrats...............40%

OPEN TO CHANGE
Republicans...............39%
Democrats...............54%

LOOKS OUT FOR FUTURE
Republicans...............43%
Democrats...............45%

The GOP brand is definitely tarnished. And a more recent Pew survey shows that most Americans will blame the Republicans if the sequester goes into effect -- and it will do that in just a couple of days. We can expect the GOP's popularity to drop even further after the effects of the sequester start being felt by most Americans.

The party out of power usually does pretty good in off-year elections, but with the GOP intent on committing political suicide (to please a few teabaggers) that could be different in 2014.

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It looks like the Republicans have not improved their brand any in the last month. In fact, a new poll done by NBC News/Wall Street Journal (between February 21st and 24th of 1000 nationwide adults -- with a margin of error of 3.1 points) shows that they may have actually dropped in popularity with the general public. Look at these numbers:

REPUBLICANS
favorable...............29%
unfavorable...............46%

DEMOCRATS
favorable...............41%
unfavorable...............36%

PRESIDENT OBAMA
favorable...............49%
unfavorable...............40%

PERCENT WHO AGREE WITH WHAT THE FOLLOWING ARE PROPOSING
Republicans...............29%
Democrats...............40%
President Obama...............45%

PERCENT WHO BELIEVE THE FOLLOWING ARE BIPARTISAN
Republicans...............22%
Democrats...............37%
President Obama...............48%

WHICH PARTY IS BETTER AT. . .

LOOKING OUT FOR MIDDLE CLASS
Republicans...............24%
Democrats...............46%

DEALING WITH MEDICARE
Republicans...............22%
Democrats...............40%

DEALING WITH HEALTH CARE
Republicans...............25%
Democrats...............41%

REDUCING GUN VIOLENCE
Republicans...............19%
Democrats...............34%

DEALING WITH SOCIAL SECURITY
Republicans...............22%
Democrats...............36%

DEALING WITH ENERGY POLICY
Republicans...............26%
Democrats...............36%

DEALING WITH IMMIGRATION
Republicans...............27%
Democrats...............33%

DEALING WITH TAXES
Republicans...............32%
Democrats...............35%

DEALING WITH ECONOMY
Republicans...............30%
Democrats...............32%

SHOULD THE MINIMUM WAGE BE RAISED TO $9.00 AN HOUR?
Yes...............58%
No...............36%

It looks like the Republicans find themselves on the wrong side of nearly every issue. How do they expect to win the favor of the public by doing that?