A REGIONAL PARTY…. In late January, about a week after President Obama’s inauguration, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) outlined some of this thoughts on the future of the Republican Party.
“[T]he Republican Party seems to be slipping into a position of being more of a regional party than a national one,” McConnell said. “In politics, there’s a name for a regional party: it’s called a minority party.”
I thought of this quote when looking through the cross-tabs of the latest weekly tracking poll from Research 2000 for Daily Kos. Notice the regional differences (thanks to reader DD for the heads-up):
President Obama favorability:
Northeast: 88% favorable, 11% unfavorable
Midwest: 73% favorable, 24% unfavorable
West: 76% favorable, 22% unfavorable
South: 41% favorable, 54% unfavorable
Democratic Party:
Northeast: 66% favorable, 23% unfavorable
Midwest: 52% favorable, 39% unfavorable
West: 54% favorable, 38% unfavorable
South: 31% favorable, 61% unfavorable
Republican Party:
Northeast: 8% favorable, 82% unfavorable
Midwest: 22% favorable, 68% unfavorable
West: 20% favorable, 70% unfavorable
South: 43% favorable, 47% unfavorable
“[T]he Republican Party seems to be slipping into a position of being more of a regional party than a national one,” McConnell said. It was one of the more reasonable observations he’s ever made.
