CNN Poll: GOP is too extreme

A CNN/ORC survey released Thursday once again emphasizes Republicans’ weak position in the “fiscal cliff” debate, as public opinion is decidedly tilted in Democrats’ favor.

Fifty-three percent of Americans called GOP policies “too extreme,” according to the survey, while 43 percent called them “generally mainstream.” By contrast, 37 percent called the Democratic party “too extreme.”

Fifty-two percent of Americans disapprove of the way House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is handling his job, and 53 percent think Republicans should give up more than Democrats in a bipartisan solution to the country’s problems.

Gutfeld: Calling Republicans extreme is ‘a compliment,’ means party has ‘a spine’

Gutfeld suggested the GOP should embrace the “extreme” label, which he said is actually an inadvertent compliment.

“If you hold to any specific principle grounded in what your grandparents called common sense, you are extreme,” Gutfeld said. “And by extreme, the media really means mean. Yep, it’s an old stereotype. The media is mad at the daddy who didn’t hug them. And so they conduct a survey to soothe their wounds. So yes, I am extreme. To me that is a compliment. For it means I stick to my principles. So if you are like me, embrace your inner extremist. In another age, it was called a spine.”