Conservatives Dominate Republican Party, Skew Older, White, and Male
Gallup has been doing some analysis of various polls they have been conducting lately:
There are few demographic differences between Republicans who call themselves “very conservative” and those identifying as simply “conservative.” However, both conservative groups differ significantly by religious identification and by age from moderate and liberal Republicans, more so than on any other demographic characteristic analyzed.
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These findings are based on an aggregate of Gallup Daily tracking data collected thus far in 2010, and encompass interviews with more than 78,000 Republicans nationwide.
Related to the age and religious differences between the different Republican factions, Gallup finds conservative Republicans much more likely than moderate/liberal Republicans to say religion is very important in their lives, and to say they attend their church or other place of worship weekly. In fact, those who are very conservative are nearly twice as likely as moderates/liberals to attend weekly — 61% vs. 32% — with conservatives falling about midway between the two, at 46%. This relationship between religiosity and conservative political values is as strong within the Republican Party as it is among Americans more generally.
Conservative Republicans are also generally more likely to be white and male than their moderate/liberal counterparts. And very conservative Republicans are more likely to live in the South — 40% of them do — than are conservatives (36%) and moderates/liberals (33%).
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As reported on Gallup.com earlier this year, the conservative bloc may be growing in influence in the Republican Party. Whereas 62% of core Republicans called themselves conservative in 2000, the figure has been 70% or higher each year since 2008, including 71% thus far in 2010 (through Sept. 23). That exceeds the 67% Gallup found in 2006 and the 62% in 2002 — the last two midterm election years.
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“May be growing”??? A look at the evolution of the various GOP platforms would show that those who are fighting to control the ideology of the GOP have definitely grown more reactionary and atavistic.
Go to the link for more numbers and links to the Gallup sources.