When I Go To Extremes

A new poll from The Hill shows some rather depressing figures about which party is seen as being "dominated" by extremists, but the only thing extreme here is the hippie punching.

This result comes from The Hill 2010 Midterm Election Poll, which found that 44 percent of likely voters say the Democratic Party is more dominated by its extreme elements, whereas 37 percent say it’s the Republican Party that is more dominated by extremists.

The revelations in a survey of 10 toss-up congressional districts across the country point to problems for Democrats, who are trying to motivate a disillusioned base and appeal to independents moving to the GOP ahead of the Nov. 2 election.

The polling firm Penn, Schoen and Berland conducted the survey, contacting 4,047 likely voters by phone between Oct. 2 and Oct. 7. The margin of error for this sample is 1.5 percent.

More than one in every five Democrats (22 percent) in The Hill’s survey said their party was more dominated than the GOP by extreme views. The equivalent figure among Republicans is 11 percent. 

Results for independent voters reflected the larger sample. Forty-three percent of likely independent voters said the Democratic Party is more dominated by its extreme elements, compared to 37 percent who thought the GOP had fallen under the sway of extreme views.

Honestly, America?  The Democrats are dominated by extremists?   Do some research, people.  Christine O' Donnell?  Carl Paladino?  Rand Paul?  Any of these folks ring a bell?  Jim DeMint?  Michele Bachmann?  Virginia Foxx?

You know, this is where "The President Is Secretly X" crap is paying off for the GOP.  And surprise, the poll was done by our old friends Doug Schoen and Mark Penn.  As BooMan says, the goal here is to lay the foundation for the Mother of All Hippie Punching festivals after the elections.  Here's the money quote:

“That’s real trouble for Democrats,” said Jim Kessler, co-founder of the Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank.

“All the press coverage has been about how these Tea Party candidates are fringe ideologues, and there have been high-profile examples of them proving the point,” he added. “Yet, still at this moment, you have independents saying, ‘I think the Democrats are a little more extreme than the Republicans.' "

Third Way, ladies and gentlemen.  It's the hippies' fault!  Obama must go to the Center!   Obama will obey the Village Daleks!



TRIANGULATE!  TRIANGULAAAAATE!

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