Gallup Offers Some Reminders

There are two important things to note via Gallup this week.

1) “One in four (25%) say they are satisfied with current direction of the country, while 74% express dissatisfaction.” As Gallup notes, that has been pretty consistent for the last five months.

Now, you may be thinking to yourself, “Right, Americans are tired of big-government solutions. They’re tired of the Democrat approach and looking to Republicans for answers.”

Not so fast, because…

2) “Americans view the Democratic Party more favorably than the Republican Party, even though both parties have a net unfavorable rating.” Based on a recent poll, the favorable rating for the Democrat Party is 44%, while that of the GOP is 34%.

Herein lies the problem.

I do think many are disgusted with a big-government approach to things, Obamacare in particular. I think they are tired of the Obama administration’s lack of transparency with respect to Benghazi, the IRS targeting political groups, the VA nightmare…but are they confident that the GOP would do a better job? No. Not yet.

The GOP has, in recent years, been remarkably uninspiring to many, particularly to young people. Outreach, messaging, and communication strategies have been poor. There has been a lack of strong, principled, charismatic presidential candidates. These are just facts.

And yes, it’s a shame. Because if the GOP stands for freedom, that shouldn’t be hard to sell. Much like opportunity, big dreams, low taxes, and limited government, individual liberty is sexy as all hell.

Reminder: One of the main reasons Obama got reelected was because his policies were viewed as the lesser of two evils. The GOP candidate, and the Party’s messaging, didn’t inspire people to make the switch.

Once again, people vote for something much more than they vote against something. Let’s see if the Republican Party gets that message as we approach 2016.

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