POLL CONFIRMS THAT THE DIVIDE BETWEEN BOTH PARTIES CONTINUES TO INCREASE

Gallup once again shows a growing divide between the Dems and the GOP.

I guess that I am one of those strange ones that was born in the South, but have always been biased against the Confederated Battle Flag of the South.  Because of that, I had previously decided to stay away from the flag brouhaha over the South Carolina State House Confederate flag.

However, after seeing the latest Gallup Poll’s national results, I decided that from a Democrat versus Republican point of view, the poll does say something about the changes in the flag’s politics. 

First, what was the question that Gallup asked?

The question was, “Do you consider the Confederate Flag as a ‘Symbol of Southern Pride’ or as ‘A Symbol of Racism’?

When one goes back to 1992, the first time Gallup asked those questions, both of the political parties were about the same as the majority of both parties stated that the flag was a sign of Southern pride.  In addition, both parties at the time agreed that it was appropriate for Southern states to fly the flag on state capitol buildings.

Well, my, my, my, how things have changed over the last 20+ years.

As of today, the latest Gallup Poll states that a small majority of all Americans, regardless of their political party, still view the Confederate flag as ”a symbol of Southern pride” rather than “a symbol of racism”.

The difference is that today, when the same question is asked on a political party level, 78% of Republicans still viewed the flag as positive symbol, while 62% of the Democrats viewed it as a symbol of racism.

But today’s political differences do not stop there.

Today, 67% of Republicans think it’s appropriate for state governments to display the Confederate flag on government property, while only 27% of Democrats believe it’s okay to display the Confederate flag on government property.

This issue for the Democrats viewing the flag as a “racist symbol” has gone up from 31% in 1992, to 40% in 2000, to today’s 62% in 2015.

In another area that Gallup polled, I have been writing for years that the Republican Party has been shrinking as their Southern base of older, white members have all been slowly passing away, with few younger GOP members to replace them.

Well, now it appears that Gallup apparently agrees with my suppositions.

As the Democrats have apparently evolved on the Confederate flag issue, that party also seems to be gaining new supporters. In another recent Gallup Poll, it was found that more Americans today identify with the Democratic Party than the Republican Party.

But the Democrats need not get too excited.  The other statistic that Gallup found was that those identifying themselves as “Independent voters” was increasing at a faster rate than either of the other parties.

The poll did confirm that yes, there were more people identifying as Democrats.  But it also said that many American voters were frustrated with both parties and many had changed to identifying themselves as “Independents”.

The reality is that both parties need to take some long looks inside themselves and consider making some major changes.

Copyright G.Ater  2015