Two news items from the Gallup Poll folks ought to be providing a screaming clue to the GOP:
PRINCETON, N.J. — Almost half of Americans, 49%, say the federal government poses “an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens,” similar to what was found in previous surveys conducted over the last five years. When this question was first asked in 2003, less than a third of Americans held this attitude.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Less than half of Americans (43%) view the Democratic Party favorably, but the party’s image is still better than that of the Republican Party (38%). Neither party has been able to gain favorable opinions from a majority of the public since June 2013, in the early months of President Barack Obama’s second term. . .
Yet while Americans are more likely to view the Democratic Party favorably, they are split on which party is better at keeping the country prosperous. Americans are slightly more likely to say the Republican Party is better at handling whatever issue they personally define as the country’s “most important problem,” and much more likely to favor the GOP on “protecting the country from international terrorism and military threats.”
Memo to the GOP presidential field: Even the slowest-witted ought to be able to figure out how to connect these two results in an effective way.
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