INSIDERS POLL

GOP Insiders Urge Focus On Swing Voters

by James A. Barnes and Peter Bell

Monday, Sept. 1, 2008


Q. Is it more important for the GOP convention to energize the base or appeal to swing voters?

75 votes
Energize the base                33 percent 
Appeal to swing voters           55 percent
Equally important (volunteered)  11 percent
Either (volunteered)              1 percent

Energize the base

"Without the base, you lose: You lose workers, you lose money, and you lose the election."

Bloggers PollNational Journal has invited top bloggers to join in its survey of insiders for the Democratic and Republican conventions.

"The convention represents the heart and guts of the Republican Party. They come together by the thousands to be inspired and take that inspiration back to the front lines."

"You can't energize swings if all the press writes about is how the party is divided. Showing strength will attract swings. But it won't be done without taking care of the base first."

"Conventions should never be aimed at the swing voter, because very few voters in that category have the patience to watch a partisan convention. You have to be a true disciple of the business to stomach either national convention. And those still on the fence would rather keep their lunch digesting."

"McCain is already doing better among swing voters than any [other] Republican in recent memory, pre-convention. We need the base to help our congressional candidates."

"Get your guys energized now. The swing comes in September and October."

Appeal to swing voters

"Normally, you want to animate the base, but this is an election McCain can't win without invading and ultimately owning the center. The exercise is to push Obama over to the left and occupy the field between the 40-yard lines. A little (maybe even a lot of) grumbling from the base amplifies the point. Call it constructive pain."

"In this race, the swing voter will decide the winner: Both parties will hold their base."

"Appeal to independents and Reagan Democrats. The base is there. Go get the middle."

"Conservatives are angry at Obama and will go to the voting booth for McCain."

"Swing voters are now giving McCain a serious look. He may only have one shot at getting them."

"McCain can win in November only with swing voters. So, appealing to independents should be the focus of the GOP convention. Besides, the Democratic convention served our purposes for motivating our base."

"Swing voters, especially this year when the Republican brand is so weak."

"Swing voters will determine the outcome of this election, no matter what [Karl] Rove says."

"McCain should not make the mistake that '41' did in 1992, and hold a convention that was all about the base. The general election has begun. The fight is for the swing voter. And our convention should reflect that."

"Unfortunately, there are fewer Republican voters than there have been for some time -- and more Democrats. We have to do well with swing voters to win."

"Conservatives would be insane to not understand just how liberal the [Democratic] ticket is, with the No. 1 and No. 3 most liberal senators."

"McCain has to begin to win over the center. Spend the afternoon talking to the base before prime time, and the hour of TV coverage talking to swing voters."

"At this point, if you can't move the swing, it don't mean a thing."

Equally important

"False choice: It needs to do both."

We also asked prominent bloggers to answer this question.

GOP Political Insiders: Dan Allen, Stan Anderson, Gary Andres, Saulius (Saul) Anuzis, Rich Ashooh, Whit Ayres, Brett Bader, Mitch Bainwol, Gary Bauer, David Beckwith, Wayne Berman, Charlie Black, Kirk Blalock, Carmine Boal, Jeff Boeyink, Ron Bonjean, Jeff Buley, Luke Byars, Nick Calio, Danny Carroll, Ron Christie, Jim Cicconi, Cesar Conda, Jake Corman, Charlie Crist, Greg Crist, Diane Crookham-Johnson, Fergus Cullen, Rick Davis, Mike Dennehy, Ken Duberstein, Steve Duprey, Debi Durham, Frank Fahrenkopf, John Feehery, Don Fierce, Carl Forti, Alex Gage, Sam Geduldig, Benjamin Ginsberg, Bill Greener, Jonathan Grella, Lanny Griffith, Janet Mullins Grissom, Doug Gross, Todd Harris, Steve Hart, Christopher Healy, Ralph Hellmann, Chris Henick, Terry Holt, David Iannelli, Clark Judge, David Keating, David Kensinger, Bruce Keough, Bob Kjellander, Ed Kutler, Chris Lacivita, Jim Lake, Chuck Larson, Steve Lombardo, Kevin Madden, Joel Maiola, Gary Maloney, David Marin, Mary Matalin, Dan Mattoon, Bill McInturff, Mark McKinnon, Kyle McSlarrow, Ken Mehlman, Jim Merrill, Mike Murphy, Phil Musser, Ron Nehring, Terry Nelson, Neil Newhouse, David Norcross, Ziad Ojakli, Jack Oliver, Van B. Poole, Tom Rath, Scott Reed, David Rehr, Steve Roberts, Jason Roe, David Roederer, Ed Rogers, Dan Schnur, Russ Schriefer, Rich Schwarm, Brent Seaborn, Rick Shelby, Andrew Shore, Don Sipple, Robin Smith, Javier Soto, Fred Steeper, Bob Stevenson, Eric Tanenblatt, Heath Thompson, Jay Timmons, Warren Tompkins, Ted Van Der Meid, Dirk van Dongen, Jan van Lohuizen, Dick Wadhams, John Weaver, Tom Wilson, Dave Winston, Ginny Wolfe, and Fred Wszolek.

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