The Quest for a GOP Majority

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In late June, the Pew Research Center released “Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political Typology.” Breaking the nation’s voting public into seven types (plus one type that does not regularly vote), Pew aims to give a more granular perspective on the nation’s body politic. Pew’s political map can be a helpful tool for Republicans and conservatives looking to chart a path to a sustainable governing coalition.


Pew outlines eight groups: Steadfast Conservatives (“socially conservative populists”); Business Conservatives (“pro-Wall Street”); Young Outsiders (“conservative views on government, not social issues”); Hard-Pressed Skeptics (“financially stressed and pessimistic”); the Next Generation Left (“young, liberal on social issues, less so on social safety net”); the Faith and Family Left (“racially diverse and religious”); Solid Liberals (“liberal across-the-board”); and the Bystanders (“young, diverse, on the sidelines of politics”). According to Pew, seven of the eight groups are involved in politics and vote, while the Bystanders do not participate in the electoral process. The Steadfast Conservatives and Business Conservatives constitute the electoral backbone of the GOP, going for Republicans with massive margins. Meanwhile, the Young Outsiders tilt Republican. Democrats only have a single type (the Solid Liberals) in which they outpoll Republicans by over 70 points, but they make up for this fact by having a broader coalition of types: they handily outperform Republicans among the Hard-Pressed Skeptics, Next Generation Left, and Faith and Family Left. And they even have the potential to fight the GOP among the lean-Republican Young Outsiders.

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