The Republican makeover falters

last updated 11 January 2015

Republicans take solace in the fact that they lost last year's presidential race by only a few percentage points, but two new polls this morning show the party is actually losing ground quickly.

As First Read puts it, the GOP "is about as popular as Carnival Cruise Lines right now."

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The public also believes Republicans are more interested in partisanship: 48 percent say Obama wants to unify the country in a bipartisan way, while 43 percent say he's taking a partisan approach. By comparison, 64 percent say Republicans are taking a partisan approach, versus 22 percent who say the GOP is focused on unity.

What's more, the poll shows the Democratic Party beats the Republican Party on almost every issue, with the GOP's numbers dropping in most cases even as the Democrats numbers didn't move.

Meanwhile, on the issue Republicans have decided to highlight in their fight against the president — the federal budget deficit — a new Washington Post/ABC News poll finds 67 percent of those questioned disapprove of the "way Republicans in Congress are handling federal spending."

As Greg Sargent points out, "If these findings aren't enough to persuade Republican strategists that the party needs a rethink on the issues — and not just a change in tone and packaging — then it's hard to imagine what will."

Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political websites. He also runs Wonk Wire and the Political Dictionary. Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and COO of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. senator and governor. Goddard is also co-author of You Won â€” Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including The Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Christian Science Monitor. Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.