Sunday, November 13, 2005
Moderate Republicans retain some remnants of American values.
Which does beg the question; Why are they still Republicans?
It's not just Bush who is getting lackluster reviews. While 74 percent of conservatives say Republicans in Congress are doing a good job, backing falls to 54 percent among GOP moderates, down 22 points from early summer. About one-third of moderates say their party's leadership is taking them in the wrong direction.
One potential wedge is the role of conservative religious groups in determining the party's agenda. In the most recent Post-ABC News poll, 44 percent of GOP moderates said that conservative religious groups have "too much influence" in the Bush administration, compared with 17 percent who thought those groups didn't hold enough sway. About a third saw religious conservatives as appropriately influential.
But there are also important cleavages among Republicans over Iraq. The majority of moderate Republicans are still behind the war (nearly 6 in 10 said it was worth fighting). In contrast with conservatives, however, a 66 percent majority of moderates called the current level of U.S. military casualties "unacceptable."
And moderates were also more likely to say the charges contained in the indictment of former vice presidential chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby represented a serious crime if proved, rather than a minor one.
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