Is the Republican base really more united than Democrats?

[ProgressiveModerate]

I've seen a lot of talk about how Democrats are a "big tent party" that relies on a ton of groups that have different and maybe even competing interests; young voters, academics, working class non-white voters, ect.

While it is true the Republican coalition is racially more homogenous than Democrats, there are a lot of ways in which the party could be factioned:

A huge one is religion; Christians, Catholics, Conservative Jews, ect are all key parts of the Republican coalition. The GOP has to appeal to each religious group which can be hard, especially when there are contradictions. Also, a big part of identity for the hyper-religious folks is that their religion is superior to others.

Another one is wealth - the modern GOP's populist tints appeal to poorer whites living in trailer homes in rural Kentucky, while the promise of tax cuts and low regulation appeals to the wealthy oil exec living in Hunters Creek Village Houston.

You also have age - seniors are a key part of the GOP coalition, and many of these seniors rely on social security and medicare, yet a lot of younger Republicans want these programs cut back or to go away completely.

Finally, an underrated divide is still the college attainment. While the college-non college divide has been growing politically in recent year, GOP still tends to win ~40% of people with college degrees, and if they're not careful they could lose more groups.

Is the Republican base really more ideologically united, or is it just as fractioned as Democrats base - just in different ways?

[RINO Tom]

(I am just going off of ACTUAL conversations I have had in real life, so nobody on Atlas needs to think I'm assuming their views.)

Frankly, I think saying the GOP is united and the Democratic Party is a "big tent" serves little more of a purpose than to pad the egos of partisan Democrats that they are in a "more reasonable party."  And, in my experience, that core belief gives them a lot of their identity and self worth.  I think the GOP base is more united in its urgency, as it (rightly or wrongly) views the left wing of the Democratic Party as having contempt for the cultural, religious and societal attitudes that have been most prominent in America since our founding ... but if you are delving into actual political compass-type issues??  I do not think it is any more united at all.

[wnwnwn]

I feel like some republicans are actually moderate or even a bit leftist on economic issues, but they priorize social issues (most cases) or are fooled by propaganda. This also happen on the other way, but in less cases.
Also, republicans have it easier to be seem as the pro American party thanks to the effects of the Cold War worldwide.

[RINO Tom]

I feel like some republicans are actually moderate or even a bit leftist on economic issues, but they priorize social issues (most cases) or are fooled by propaganda. This also happen on the other way, but in less cases.
Also, republicans have it easier to be seem as the pro American party thanks to the effects of the Cold War worldwide.

The GOP base is not Paul Ryan, but holy moly it is not leftist at all, haha.

[Skill and Chance]

No, definitely not anymore.  Democrats are presently the "high engagement activist base" party and Republicans are presently the "everyone else" party.   It was the other way around for decades annd decades up to 2010 or so, but Democrats definitely became more united/organized and less willing to compromise on policy in the Trump era.

[mjba257]

The GOP base is very united. It's the GOP establishment that's divided. It's the exact opposite on the Democrat side. The establishment is very much unified but the base is split between different factions.

The GOP base is very much all MAGA. What used to "moderate Republicans" now largely identify as independents or unaffiliated. When you hear about all the independent support Nikki Haley has, in reality, a lot of those people are former Republicans who stopped identifying as such when Trump came along.

The GOP establishment, on the other hand, is still split between the Old Guard and the MAGAs. Old Guard being people like McConnell, Romney, the Bushes, Haley, Sununu, Youngkin, and the MAGA being Trump, MTG, Gaetz, Vance, Jordan, etc. People like DeSantis are somewhere in between the two groups. The Old Guard wants to take their party back and hates MAGA with a passion. They are right now just sitting and waiting for Trump to go away and then they will pounce and try and mark their return.

On the Democrat side, the establishment is pretty much all behind Biden. Even folks like AOC and Bernie mostly tow the party line. The base however is divided. You have your progressive left, which is largely younger and white and they hate Biden with a passion because they think he's committing a genocide. These are the folks willing to break rank and vote third party, which is what terrifies the Democrat establishment. Then you have your minorities who are more moderate to even socially conservative. They usually are more pragmatic voters. The electability argument works very well with this group, which is why they don't tend to like the progressive types. Then you have your whine-at-cheese liberals. These are well off individuals who are socially liberal, but not woke. They detest populism, don't like paying taxes, often live in gated communities, virtue signal frequently but rarely do anything meaningful to help others. These people hate folks like Bernie Sanders with a passion. They are cool with Biden, but would prefer someone like a Buttigieg, Whitmer, or Newsome.

[kwabbit]

On the Democrat side, the establishment is pretty much all behind Biden. Even folks like AOC and Bernie mostly tow the party line. The base however is divided. You have your progressive left, which is largely younger and white and they hate Biden with a passion because they think he's committing a genocide. These are the folks willing to break rank and vote third party, which is what terrifies the Democrat establishment. Then you have your minorities who are more moderate to even socially conservative. They usually are more pragmatic voters. The electability argument works very well with this group, which is why they don't tend to like the progressive types.

Excellent post. I will say that I’m seeing a lot of college-educated people of both sexes and all races (but mostly visible minorities) under 40 express online disapproval for Biden and the Dem establishment over Gaza. I’m not 100% sure if this is just a quirk of my personal social network being mostly post-1965 immigrant wave college grads born after the Cold War.

Among my 20s yuppie social network, none of whom voted for Trump in 2020, I'd say Biden approve/disapprove is 25/75. In terms of vote preference it's 75-0 though.

[PSOL]

Not a single good post in sight

[smoltchanov]

IMHO - yes, but rather narrowly, with  Democratic "base" rapidly becoming as ideologized and intolerant to other views as Republican already is. There is a lag, but not BIG lag: 5 to 7 years, and Democrats will be where Republicans are now...