Campaign Spot reader Charlie notices:
I have seen a trend where Democrats have been imploding among independents. Here are how the internals of various polls have moved from the previous poll among independents:
Rasmussen Generic Congressional ballot (8/16): Democrats got 21% of the generic ballot among independents down from 28% previously.
Rasmussen Ohio Senate (8/17): Democrat Fisher polls at 21% of independents, down from 30% previously.
Rasmussen Pennsylvania Senate (8/17): Democrat Sestak polls at 25% of independents, down from 34% previously.
Rasmussen Florida Senate (8/11): Democrat Meek polls at 5% among independents, down from 13% previously (3-way race)
Survey USA California Senate (8/12): Democrat Boxer polls at 32% of independents compared to 40% previously.
Rasmussen Illinois Senate (8/11): Democrat Giannoulias polls at 20% of independents compared to 27% previously.
Rasmussen Nevada Senate (8/18): Democrat Harry Reid polls at 35% of independents compared to 42% previously.
While I realize the polling error is higher among the smaller subset of independents, the significant drop among independents for Democrats has been near universal.
What’s killing the Democrats? A lot of things, but I think it’s reflected in today’s offering from the once reasonable Peter Beinart:
Bush, for all his flaws, believed that the GOP should be a universalistic party based on traditional values, a big tent for “faith-based” conservatives of all races and creeds: Muslims, Hispanics, Mormons, African-Americans, whatever. Now it is clear that the post-Bush GOP is a far nastier creature: A party seething with hatred towards vulnerable religious and ethnic groups. Despite the pretense that the GOP’s anti-mosque crusade is based on what Imam Rauf and company believe, it has more to do with who they are. It’s telling that the people Republicans are turning to for their anti-mosque street cred are not “moderate, peace-loving” Muslims, since even Muslim Republicans are disgusted by their party’s actions. The GOP’s new heroes are former Muslims like Nonie Darwish and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. That’s one way to escape the new Republican bigotry.
Beinart insists he knows what really motivates mosque opponents; everything they say in defense of their position is a lie designed to obscure their obvious hatred, in his mind. There’s no reason to doubt the good motives of the mosque builders. There’s no reason for disliking a religious house of worship selected specifically for this location, and self-promoted as the official of house of worship of the events of 9/11. The fact that no one is objecting to two other Islamic cultural centers within 1.5 miles of Ground Zero doesn’t refute the accusation of reflexive anti-Muslim views at all. Either you agree with Beinart, or you are “seething with hatred towards vulnerable religious and ethnic groups.”
The same tack is taken by the editors of the Philadelphia Inquirer today; opposition to the mosque is ipso facto bigotry.
In other words, when Siena finds, “When asked if they ‘support or oppose the proposal to build the Cordoba House,’ New Yorkers said they oppose the facility, which is expected to cost $100 million, by a 63-27 percent margin. At the same time, by a 64-to-28 percent margin, New Yorkers say Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has the constitutional right to build it,” Beinart & Co. have no qualms about dismissing 63 percent of New Yorkers, many of whom reside in one of the world’s most diverse cities and in diverse suburbs around it, as irredeemable bigots.
Is it any wonder that most of the electorate beyond loyal Democrats responds, #@&$ off!?