It must feel good for Republican leadership to have their party back on top – on the issues anyhow. Voters now trust Republicans more than Democrats on ten key issues that the Rasmussen Report follows and polls regularly.
This is a big change for the Republican Party and its hunt for a renewed identity following the drubbing that Republican candidates have taken in the past two federal election cycles.
After borrowing and spending billions under President Bush, Republicans have regained the voters’ trust especially on taxes, holding a 15 percentage point lead on that issue. The other issues with double digit leads for the GOP, as the accompanying chart shows, are the economy, abortion, national security and Iraq.
Only weeks ago, Republicans did not have a complete sweep on these 10 issues, and on others, their leads were much tighter. As we have noted before, Republicans are the beneficiaries of a clear change in voters’ mood from the 2008 elections.
Momentum is in full-swing in the GOP’s favor. Whether Republicans can harness this momentum, maintain and grow these numbers and benefit materially from them (i.e. score legislative victories and win elections), we will have to wait and see.
One way for Republicans to do it is to formulate a well thought out and researched platform and move as a unit, with all members in congress on the same page. Staying true to core values that the GOP has drifted from in recent years is essential to this (see previous posts on the issues voters care about), as is strong and focused leadership.
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