November 23, 2005
The Elite Divide
By Maggie
Gallagher
Politically,
Americans are saying, "a pox on both your houses." Both
parties now struggle to define themselves in ways the majority
of Americans like. For the best look at where both political elites
may be going wrong, check out the Pew political typologies poll
released earlier this year.
The Pew analysis
divides registered voters into eight subgroups, three on the GOP
side (Enterprisers, Social Conservatives, Pro-Government Conservatives),
two centrist groups (Upbeats and Disaffecteds), and three Democratic
groups (Conservative Dems, Disadvantaged Dems and Liberals). The
divide between partisan elites and the rest of America is shockingly
wide.
GOP elites
are recognizably Enterprisers (10 percent of voters): mostly men,
educated, married, patriotic, affluent, with strong belief in
the power of military force, market capitalism and the individual
to get ahead in this world. Think Ronald Reagan and Rush Limbaugh.
Eighty-eight percent of Enterprisers believe that most corporations
make a fair and reasonable amount of profits, a position supported
by only 39 percent of the general population. Eighty-four percent
agree that the best way to defeat terrorism is overwhelming military
force (compared to 39 percent of the general population). Forty-six
percent watch Fox News. They voted for Bush over Kerry 92 percent
to 1 percent.
Enterprisers
who define "the problem" as all those Christian conservatives
have a rude shock coming. As the Pew report puts it, on key economic
issues, "Enterprisers stand alone." Seventy-six percent
of Enterprisers oppose government-guaranteed health insurance
for all. Strong majorities of all other groups (including GOP
groups) support the idea, with approval ranging from 55 percent
to 90 percent. A slim majority of Enterprisers (49 percent to
46 percent) oppose raising the minimum wage. All other groups
support a higher minimum wage by between 79 percent to 94 percent.
Enterprisers are also alone in their support for making all recent
tax cuts permanent (fully 82 percent agree). By contrast, only
between 8 percent and 42 percent of other political subgroups
agree.
The GOP's
base is less riven than the Democrats' because Enterprisers do
share the rest of the GOP's religious values, just less intensely.
Moreover, Enterprisers take a unifying lead on one critical values
issue: optimism. Working-class Republican voters resonate to the
idea that America is still the land of opportunity: 68 percent
of Pro-Government Conservatives say they "often can't make
ends meet." Yet 76 percent of them agree that "most
people can get ahead with hard work," compared to 14 percent
of Disadvantaged Democrats.
The Liberals
(19 percent of voters) are in charge of crafting the Democratic
agenda. Like the Enterprisers, Liberals are affluent and well-educated
(41 percent earn at least $75,000 a year). Younger, and more female,
more than a third have never been married; 43 percent seldom or
never attend church services. Only 2 percent voted for Bush in
2004.
Liberals
stand out from the rest of America in their opposition to military
force and religion, and their support for taxes and gay marriage.
Sixty-five percent of Liberals support cutting military spending
to reduce the deficit, compared to only between 16 percent and
41 percent of the rest of America. Liberals are the only people
who favor raising taxes in order to reduce the deficit. Sixty-seven
percent of liberals believe the pre-emptive use of U.S. military
force is rarely or never justified, a position decisively rejected
by centrist groups (just 23 percent of Upbeats and 27 percent
of Disaffecteds share this view).
Liberals
are the only group that believe the next Supreme Court justice
should be more liberal (52 percent); 80 percent of Liberals favor
"allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally," a position
taken by only between 8 percent and 37 percent of other groups.
Sixty-one percent of Liberals say it is "improper" to
display the Ten Commandments in government buildings; only between
5 percent and 16 percent of all other groups agree.
Can either
party present an agenda that will satisfy the American people?
The Pew poll suggests that "numerous opportunities exist
for building coalitions across party lines on many issues ...
coalitions that, in many cases, include some strange political
bedfellows."
But not if
Enterprisers and Liberals between them define the terms of the
national debate.
Copyright
2005 Maggie Gallagher
