Sixty-eight percent (68%) of Republican voters say their party has no clear leader, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Another 17% are undecided.
Just five percent (5%) view either John McCain, the GOP‘s unsuccessful 2008 presidential candidate, or new party chairman Michael Steele as the party’s leader.
Two percent (2%) see conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh in that role, and one percent (1%) name McCain’s running mate, Alaska Govenror Sarah Palin. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner are each seen as GOP leader by less than one-half of one percent.
Democrats have no question who’s in charge. Two-thirds of the party’s voters (66%) see President Barack Obama as their leader. Nobody else reaches even the five percent (5%) level.
Rasmussen Reports found that just 11% of Republicans agreed with the statement “Rush Limbaugh is the leader of the Republican Party. He says jump, and they say how high.” This was a comment made by Brad Woodhouse, president of an advocacy group running national television ads linking Limbaugh to the Republican Party. His comment came at the same time that top White House officials were saying Limbaugh is the leader of the GOP.
Some pundits, however, wondered if the harsh nature of the quote might have diminished the apparent support for Limbaugh as party leader. In the current survey, we simply asked if Limbaugh is the leader of the Republican Party. The different wording had virtually no impact on the GOP responses: Only 10% said yes.
Yes, I do think that the GOP is unsure of its future, and perhaps sectioning off to different factions. The small Palin-fan club, the Limbaugh-lovers, the socially-moderate fiscal conservatives. There is no clear direction where the party is going right now. They’re scrambling to find a path. And I’m lovin’ every minute of it.
Morning Jenny–you would think that they would try to find another path…the tax cut snooze-a-thon is going nowhere.