Illinois Republicans Energized but Questioning Foreign Policy After Convention
In the latest Land of Lincoln Red survey issued by Patch, Republican respondents shared their opinions
on the presidential election following the
Republican National Convention.
By Michael Sewall - PATCH
Citing speeches by Sen. Marco Rubio, vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan and celebrity Clint Eastwood, 94 percent of Republicans surveyed by Patch said their party's National Convention provided the party with the momentum it needs to get the base (by "base" we mean Christian Fundamentalist Homophobic Women are Meant to Breed and Only Breed folk - who turned out rather large for George W Bush - 'cuz he figured out how to talk the talk, and for these well-intentioned, but dirt ignorant folk, being able to talk the talk be one hell of a lot more important than knowing how to walk the walk - they ain't turnin out for no shitt named Mitt) to turn out for what is expected to be a close election (hold on, there Tonto - WHO expects this election to be close, and why do they expect it to be close? ... I think Obummah wins in the electoral college by LOTS).
That's part of the results from a recent Land of Lincoln survey issued by Patch in the Chicago area. Ninety-three Republicans were surveyed, with 30 responding (in essence, in a survey of 93 Republicans, only 32.25% even cared enough to respond to the SURVEY! face it folks, these are the rabid right-wing nut jobs who take God's Own Party's present leadership to be giants, the Republicans can't even get out one-third of their voters to answer a friggin' SURVEY fer Chrissakes!).
Most Republican respondents mentioned the Rubio and Ryan speeches as highlights of the convention, while one respondent said "Mitt Romney just did OK." (one out of 30 said something positive about the man the party is running for Preznit? Everybody else mentioned Rubio or Ryan ... does this possibly sound like they have the most electable candidate even running for Preznit?) ... I mean, that is like a positive approval rating of friggin 10%, which is actually lower than Congress, and we HATE the friggin' Congress Critters!)
According to Republican respondents, 53 percent said they felt more confident about Romney's chances of winning after the convention, while 43 said their confidence had not changed. Although only a few Republicans mentioned Romney as a highlight of the convention, everyone said they felt he made a strong case for why he should be president (though a majority said they didn't feel strongly about that - a MAJORITY don't feel strongly about their candidate! HOLY COW! Who coulda guessed!).
The convention featured "speakers that articulated what the party stands for in contrast with the Democrats," one Republican said. "Romney did a decent job defining himself but I knew he couldn't get too specific because Obama would just turn it around on him a week later."
A perceived lack of specific plans was something many respondents touched on, most notably involving the absence of foreign policy in Romney's speech. (Jeez, Lew-Ease, taking a line out of Obama's Playbook, Romney declined to articulate a foreign policy - hell, it'll be the same damn foreign policy that Obama would have followed - fight perpetual war, let the CIA run them clandestinely, declare that you are pulling out the troops, and then just leave embassy guards, forever, and ever)
"Even a line or two would have been OK, but it was a bad omission," one Republican said. "They didn't talk about how they would make our lives better," another said.
However, 80 percent of respondents said they either agreed or strongly agreed that Romney provided specifics on his goals and how he would achieve them. About 13 percent said they disagreed, and 7 percent said they had no opinion.
Republicans didn't have many good things to say about the Democratic National Convention, though many said President Bill Clinton "still has the magic." (finally Bill Clinton is starting to get his due, as the finest Republican President - and I mean this in all the best senses of that word - but, sense left the Republican Party with the exit of Ike - we had had since Eisenhower, and even so, up until the point in time Obama gets elected; and Obama is an even better Republican President than Clinton was) Respondents said his speech, along with others, did a good job to fire up voters on the left. But one Republican said the show put on by Clinton could remind voters that Obama isn't Clinton.
"Bill Clinton was electric," one Republican said. "So good that it may remind people how bad President Obama's four years have been. People liked Bill Clinton as president, but he is not seen as trustworthy by independents and he overshadowed Obama in a huge way."
Commenting on missteps at the Democratic National Convention, most Republicans mentioned Democrats' failure to include mentions to God or Jerusalem in the original platform, only to go back on that later in an awkward voice vote.
Check back tomorrow for Democrats' response to the Land of Lincoln survey.
Patch editors throughout the Chicago suburbs enlisted local people involved with politics to take our Land of Lincoln surveys. Go to the links below to see a full roster of those involved. Want to take our next survey? Email associate regional editor Michael Sewall at michael.sewall@patch.com.
Related Topics: Political Influencers Surveys 2012
