Nearly 1/2 of Republicans Don't Mind if Leaders Praise Putin
Category: News & Politics
Via: john-russell • 2 years ago • 20 commentsBy: Tommy Christopher (Mediaite)
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By Tommy ChristopherMar 17th, 2022, 1:14 pm Twitter share button <?php // Post Body ?>
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Almost half of Republicans don't view people who praise Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin less favorably than those who don't, and a slim plurality of GOP voters hold that view.
Since the current strife in Ukraine began, a range of figures popular in Republican politics have offered a veritable buffet of praise for Putin, from former President Donald Trump'sseemingly constant offerings to the steady diet of Russia apologia from Tucker Carlson. But they won't pay much of a price with GOP voters for that praise.
Respondents to a new Quinnipiac University poll were told "As you may know, some politicians and media figures have had words of praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin in the last several weeks," and were asked "Does that make you view those individuals more favorably, less favorably, or doesn't it affect your opinion of those individuals?"
A large 57 percent majority of all respondents said they would view those individuals less favorably, with 36 percent saying it wouldn't affect their opinion — and just two percent saying they would view people who praise Putin more favorably.
But there was a stark partisan divide, as Quinnipiac notes, with more Republicans than not saying it would make no difference to them:
- among Democrats: 81 percent say they view those individuals less favorably, while 16 percent say it doesn't affect their opinion;
- among independents: 54 percent say they view those individuals less favorably, while 39 percent say it doesn't affect their opinion;
- among Republicans: 45 percent say they view those individuals less favorably, while 46 percent say it doesn't affect their opinion.
The greatest disparity on this question was between people who are following news about the invasion "Very closely" (64 percent Less favorably vs. 29 percent Doesn't affect) or "Somewhat closely" (56 percent Less favorably vs. 38 percent Doesn't affect) , versus those who are following news about the invasion "Not too closely" (30 percent Less favorably vs. 62 percent Doesn't affect).
No group got above the 4 percent of respondents over 65 years of age who said they view people who praise Putin "More favorably."
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America is a degraded society thanks to Trumpism.
Trump's America has completely changed the definition of the word "patriot". In the MAGA'verse, you are a patriot only as long as you agree with Trump, no matter what.
Trumpism is alive and well and spreading by leaps and bounds. The torch will soon be passed to De Santis.
Not if Trump has anything to say about it.
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words of praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin
Interesting way to phrase the question, it leaves it up to the individual to determine what words of praise actually is. Based on the political "gotcha" mentality of today I would have to hear the actual statement and context to determine for myself if what the person saying was actually praising Putin. I will say if the person was actually praising Putin (in my own mind)and what he is doing I would lose respect for that person.
That being said if I got a call from a polling outfit asking the question as it was asked I would decline to answer it.
"There is no room in this party for apologists for Putin"....Mike Pence
That has been the bottom line.
The party of anti-Americanism is about to take a beating in November.
For all of 2 weeks ... YAY Mike ... @!@
I say round up everyone no matter what their affiliation who thinks this way and airlift them to Russia.
Well, one thing is for sure. We're not going to be hearing any more about BLM, CRT, white privilege, or systemic bullshit. The concerted political effort to persuade Americans to be ashamed of the United States has been abruptly put to an end. We're fightin' the commies now.
The United States, NATO, and Europe are united in fighting to protect the borders of a very white, very Christian, very conservative, very nationalist country. Ukraine is everything the United States is supposed to be. Even Democrats are saying so. Democrats who revile the US flag proudly wave Ukrainian flags.
Slava Ukraini. Nostalgic propaganda to fight the Bolsheviks. Only now that propaganda is being used by former Soviets.
So, are we to embrace the raw history of the United States? Or are we to ignore history when it is politically expedient? If Vladimir Putin recites all the points made by the 1619 Project would that make Putin a truthteller? Putin is doing exactly the same thing as those who are attempting to persuade Americans to be ashamed of the United States.
Right now, agreeing with any of the points presented by Vladimir Putin about what the United States has done is considered anti-American support for Putin. Reciting the unflattering history of what the United States has done is anti-American. Doesn't that mean that agreeing with the unflattering history of the United States presented by Black activism should be considered anti-American, too?
Democrats have shown their true colors and that is mighty, mighty white. Ukraine has not been, is not now, and will not become a diverse European democracy. Slava Ukraini.
Where do you come up with this shit...
RT?
Slava Ukraini.
What does that prove?
Where in the world does that say the country is everything we are suppose to be?
Don't link things behind a paywall.
Still has nothing to do with your statement that Democrats think the Ukraine is everything the US is suppose to be.
It's called platypus logic.
Admitting that the USA is not perfect does not equal being ashamed of the USA. Apparently, that is too hard to understand.
www.rawstory.com /gop-in-disarray-2656983191/
Expert: GOP in crisis after Trump-loving Republicans enabled extremists
Ray Hartmann 10-13 minutes 3/18/2022
That’s the view of Howard Schweber, a national expert in American constitutional law and politics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In an exclusive Raw Story interview, Schweber said former President Donald Trump has placed the party in a bind.
“We are in a strange territory because Donald Trump has already divided the Republican Party to a very significant extent, Schweber said. “By going around endorsing candidates against sitting Republicans or others backed by the state Republican parties, he’s essentially promoting a sort of insurgency within the party.”
But asked for his advice to Democrats, Schweber cautioned against making Trump a key issue in the 2022 midterm elections.
RELATED: WATCH: Marjorie Taylor Greene says ‘real Americans’ don’t care about Ukraine
“I think the record is pretty clear that for Democrats running against Trump in the midterms is a weak strategy,” Schweber said. “If there is a chance to avoid a disaster it lies in showing reasons for optimism, including steps to rein in inflation, and shifting the focus of the discussion away from vaccine mandates and toward America's position as a world leader.
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“Many Trump voters supported his call for a new isolationism, but not all of them by any means. Domestically, a narrower and more focused agenda that yields concrete accomplishments is the best way to counter the hysterical attempts to paint the Democrats as radical socialists.
“If Trump is the GOP nominee in 2024, that will be the time to bring up his coziness with dictators; in 2022 the Democrats need to focus on the candidates in the races at hand.”
READ: MAGA rioter invokes Black History Month and says he's being treated 'worse' than Black Americans under Jim Crow
Here's Schweber’s interview with Raw Story:
Q. Your home state of Wisconsin was one of the three closest in the nation in 2020. But the Republicans keep turning out some of the most extreme candidates, including Sen. Ron Johnson. Why’s that?
A. The Wisconsin Republican Party is going through a crisis at the moment. Its leadership, particularly in the legislature, was elected in a tea party wave and has been at the far-right end of national Republicans. They've held power through some of the most ruthless gerrymandering in the country, and they've played hardball politics to an extreme. Along with that, in recent years, there has been tremendous loyalty to Trump. The problem with being loyal to Trump is that he constantly asks for more and more. So, we have kind of a race to claim the right flank, as often happens in intra-party politics. But in this case, to claim the mantra of being a true believer in the Wisconsin Republican Party, it seems that what's required is very. very far into the area of conspiracy and what has become known as the Big Lie.
Q. But isn’t Wisconsin still a moderate state overall?
A. Yes. We’ve elected a Democratic governor. Not long ago we had 2 Democratic senators, even after Republicans took control of the state legislature. The statewide offices have gone back and forth but the elections have simply been distorted, as I suggested, by an absolutely drastic system of gerrymandering that was put into place in 2010 so that the Republican candidates in the state legislature and in Congress get far more representation than would be justified by their share of the statewide vote. It's a very closely divided state and you would think that from a strategic perspective, to allow this kind of division to emerge in one of the parties would be considered suicidal. The problem is that as Republicans nationally have discovered it's much easier to rile up extremists and conspiracy theorists than it is to control them after they become active.
READ: 'Chilling to the bone': Longtime Putin observer horrified by his latest speech
Q. How big a problem has that become for them?
A. You can choose your metaphor. But this is a matter of 'riding the tiger,' if you’d like, and the leadership is discovering that there are essentially no limits to how far they will have to go to hold on to that portion of the base. The Republican leadership both nationally and in Wisconsin is really very worried that they could lose the governorship and the senatorial election in the state. Johnson’s reelection race is an example of that. if the appeal of the Republican candidates becomes too narrowly defined around the most extreme portion of the Republican base, it could lose a large number of people, including more moderate Republicans and independents.
Q. How do you plot Johnson on that extremist spectrum at this point?
A. He started out presenting himself as a kind of middle-of-the-road Wisconsin-style moderate, but he has now become one of the most extreme peddlers of conspiracy theories. His calculation, it appears, is that the way to success in the Republican Party is to hang on to the extreme pro-Trump flank and assume that all the other Republican voters will come along for the ride.
Q. But voters tend to respond to persona as much as ideology these days. So, doesn’t his obvious flip-flopping and disingenuousness hurt him a lot?
A. Whether it’s the inconsistency or the extremism of his current positions -- particularly with respect to things like vaccines -- that is the reason his approval rating has dropped through the floor. It’s down to 36%. He is counting on two traditional phenomena: one, that in midterm elections that turnout is low; and two, that it skews heavily to the party not in power. Actually, let's add a third, that (President Joe) Biden's national popularity is very low. So, I think he’s counting on the idea that those three things together will create a situation in which 36% approval is enough to get reelected. He might be right, but it’s certainly a high-risk strategy.
Q. You care to prognosticate the outcome?
A. I think it’s going to be close, actually. I think he’s right about the low turnout, and that there will be better Republican turnout than Democratic turnout and the Republicans who show up will disproportionately represent the extreme end of the party. Whether that’s enough to overcome a 36% popularity approval rating remains to be seen. It will depend on the quality of the opposition and what happens in the campaign. But I think it will be close.
Q. For those of us who don’t follow Wisconsin closely, is there one Democrat who has the best chance against him?
A. There’s not a clear frontrunning presently and I don’t have a pick in this race.
Q. There’s a widespread assumption that the midterm elections nationally will be terrible. That’s partly because of the factors you described voting patterns and Biden’s approval ratings, as well as the mood of the country. But could wild cards like the January 6 investigation and Trump’s other legal troubles change that?
A. I think it’s too early to tell. I will make a prognostication that it’s going to be decided late. I do think that any outcomes of the civil and criminal litigation are baked in. That is, people’s positions are already accounted for and whatever happens probably won’t make much of a difference. But on the other hand, we are in a strange territory because Donald Trump has already divided the Republican Party to a very significant extent by going around endorsing candidates against sitting Republicans or others backed by the state Republican parties, he’s essentially promoting a sort of insurgency with the party.
Q. How do you think that will work out?
A. Trump’s in a position to be very effective doing that. But there is the possibility that
significant numbers of Republican voters will simply stay home, particularly if the intraparty fighting gets vicious, as it’s starting to become in some places
Q. Do you think Trump’s influence is waning, growing or staying the same in the party?
A. The short answer is that it’s waning, but I have to qualify that by saying that you can’t forget he was coming from a position of absolute dominance. He had nowhere to go in terms of influence except down or stay the same. But I do think there are more Republicans thinking, rightly or wrongly, than they can succeed without him.
Q. If you were advising Democrats, how would you have them handle the Trump factor this year?
A. I think the record is pretty clear that for Democrats running against Trump in the midterms is a weak strategy. If there is a chance to avoid a disaster it lies in showing reasons for optimism, including steps to rein in inflation, and shifting the focus of the discussion away from vaccine mandates and toward America's position as a world leader. Many Trump voters supported his call for a new isolationism, but not all of them by any means. Domestically, a narrower and more focused agenda that yields concrete accomplishments is the best way to counter the hysterical attempts to paint the Democrats as radical socialists.
Q. Couldn’t Trump’s outrageous affinity for Vladimir Putin come into play?
A. If Trump is the GOP nominee in 2024, that will be the time to bring up his coziness with dictators; in 2022 the Democrats need to focus on the candidates in the races at hand.”
Q. Should Democrats be rooting for some of the extremist Republicans to win in the primaries on the theory that they’ll turn off moderates and independents and bring down Republicans in November?
A. I'm always concerned when the gamesmanship gets quite that cynical, and I’ll tell you why. Several decades ago, there was an election in Wisconsin -- in those days, the primaries were open -- in which Democrats mobilized in substantial numbers to vote in the Republican primary.
They wanted to nominate the candidate who they were sure could not possibly win. He was uncouth, he was radical, he was extreme. His name was Joe McCarthy.
Q. Wow.
A. The country paid a very dear price for that particular bit of gamesmanship. So, I would hope that on the Democratic side, there would be at least some concern for the health of the two-party system and our democracy. However, certainly in the purple states like Wisconsin -- many of which have close races --, there’s a perception that the nomination of a more radical Republican candidate increases the likelihood of a Democratic victory. That's one of the reasons that although all the structural elements are in place Republicans sweep in this election, the unsettled state of the Republican field and the outsider character of some of the candidates who are emerging might be a wild card. And that might give Democrats a chance to claw back or hold on to some seats that they were not confident in keeping before.