The Republican base

The extreme opposition to Obama from the right-wing Republican base is ideology, not racism.

So says a survey done by James Carville's and Stan Greenberg's Democracy Corps. They used focus group techniques with two contrasting groups who both voted for McCain: (1) a group in Georgia identified as the Republican base and (2) a group of swing voters in Ohio, either independents or weakly identified with either party.

The results shows the GOP base as being motivated by a fundamentally different worldview than the McCain voters who are in the middle or on the Dem side -- and they see the country as being under a dire threat. Here are some excerpts from TPM:

"They believe Obama is ruthlessly advancing a 'secret agenda' to bankrupt the United States and dramatically expand government control to an extent nothing short of socialism . . . they overwhelmingly view a successful Obama presidency as the destruction of this country's founding principles and are committed to seeing the president fail."

. . . .

One thing that the firm makes clear, though, is that this is not about racism, but about ideology . . . "we gave these groups of older, white Republican base voters in Georgia full opportunity to bring race into their discussion - but it did not ever become a central element, and indeed, was almost beside the point."

The voters in these focus groups saw Obama as being deliberately out to destroy the American economy in order to undermine personal freedoms, and that the speed of his agenda was a part of this strategy: . . .

By contrast, Democracy Corps also interviewed a separate group of somewhat conservative-leaning swing voters [in Ohio], and these attitudes were not to be found. . .

"Conservative Republicans passionately believe that they represent a group of people who have been targeted by a popular culture and set of liberal elites - embodied in the liberal mainstream media - that mock their values and are actively working to advance the downfall of the things that matter most to them in their lives - their faith, their families, their country, and their freedom."

And who is the spokesman these GOP base voters most identify with? Glenn Beck, by a long shot -- more than Rush Limbaugh. In fact, there is a common fear for his personal safety because of his willingness to take on the "powerful liberal interests."

Read the entire report at:
http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/TheVerySeparateWorld.pdf.

Ralph