Redstate

By pennconservative Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

In a "no big surprise" moment, the latest Rasmussen Reports poll shows that most Americans perceive the two top GOP contenders for the Presidency as being right in the middle (emphasis mine).

Rasmussen Reports surveys of leading national political figures find that Al Gore is perceived as a bit more liberal by the voting public than either Bill or Hillary Clinton. In fact, public perceptions put the former vice president further to the left of center than President Bush is to the right.

Note: The political center is calculated by subtracting the number of liberals from the number of conservatives among the general public (35% conservative, 18% liberal for a net +17).

Two Republican presidential hopefuls—Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani—are fairly close to the nation's political center. Not only are McCain and Giuliani closer to the nation's political center than others we tested, they are closer to the political center of the Democratic rank-and-file than any of the Democratic leaders included in the poll.

Democrats across the nation are 28 points left of center and Republicans are 42 points right of center. This also means that public perceptions see McCain and Giuliani as closer to the center of the Democratic Party than to the center of their own party.

There's good news and bad news in here. The good is that the leading Democrats are perceived as being far left of center. In a contest between true liberals and true conservatives, conservatism rarely loses. The bad news is the highlighted portion above: our two leading candidates aren't exactly conservatives. Our party is such a big tent that we're potentially willing to nominate two moderate to liberal Republicans to hold the highest office in the nation.

There is an opportunity for Republicans this fall and in 2008 to reclaim conservatism as the banner of our party. Nominating a McCain or Guiliani won't do that.