Did you know that there are only 7 different kinds of Republicans? In their study "The Elephant Looks in the Mirror 10 Years Later" by Fabrizio, McLaughlin and Associates, which is a follow-up to their original study from a decade ago, you can neatly divide Republicans into 7 groups that reflect their reasons for voting GOP.
Romney has apparently taken this study to heart, and is changing his focus from the "Moralists" wing of the party to the "Bush Hawks".
What are the 7 types of Republicans? What prompted the change in Romney's strategy? Read more after the jump.
According to a Gallup poll taken after Romney's speech on religion, there has been little change in the views of Americans about voting for a Mormon.
According to the Dec. 6-9 Gallup survey, Americans are about as likely today (80%) as they were in March (77%) to say they would vote for a Mormon if their party nominated someone of that faith for president. At that time, 19% said they would not vote for a Mormon presidential candidate. However, in early February, just before Romney officially declared his candidacy for president, the percentage saying they would not vote for a Mormon was somewhat higher, at 24%.
Longer term, attitudes have changed little on this question, with 17% in 1967 and 1999 saying they would not support their party's nominee for president if that person were a Mormon. The 1967 poll was conducted as Romney's father, former Michigan Gov. George Romney, was himself seeking the presidency.
The current 17% unwilling to support a Mormon is similar to the 22% of Americans in August 2007 telling Gallup that being Mormon is an "undesirable" characteristic for the next president to have.
Since Huckabee is quickly becoming the choice of the religious GOP base, that left Romney with a need to change his strategy.
His new target audience: Bush Hawks, one of the 7 types of Republicans.
The FMA study breaks the down the GOP followers into these 7 groups:
Moralists, 24 percent;
Bush Hawks, 20 percent;
Dennis Miller Republicans, 14 percent;
Government Know Best Republicans, 13 percent;
Fortress America, 8 percent;
Heartland, 8 percent;
Free Marketers, 8 percent;
The Chicago Tribune describes the shift in Romney's strategy:
Having lost many of Iowa's social conservatives to Huckabee, Romney is apparently trying to hold or peel away foreign-policy hawks of the world-be-damned, John Bolton-Donald Rumsfeld school of foreign policy. Why does Romney think this will work?
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"Bush Hawks," the second-largest group, are the president's most ardent supporters, as Fabrizio found, the only voter segment that says the country is moving in the right direction. They believe in a militarily muscular foreign policy that spreads democracy.
You can now expect to see more and more of Romney attacking Huckabee's somewhat softer tone on US foreign policy.
From the Des Moines Register:
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney charged today that Republican rival Mike Huckabee was sounding like a Democratic presidential candidate in criticizing President Bush's handling of foreign policy.
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"It sounds like something Barack Obama or John Edwards would say - not what you hear from someone running for president as a Republican." Romney was referring to an article by Huckabee called "America's Priorities in the War on Terror" in the January-February issue of the journal "Foreign Affairs."
Huckabee says near the top of the lengthy article that "American foreign policy needs to change its tone and attitude, open up, and reach out. The Bush administration's arrogant bunker mentality has been counterproductive at home and abroad. My administration will recognize that the United States' main fight today does not pit us against the world but pits the world against the terrorists."
So now we have more evidence that Romney is the GOP candidate most likely to carry on the traditions of Bush / Cheney foreign policy.
In my view, this makes him the most dangerous of all the GOP candidates. I don't like any of them, but the country will suffer the most under a Romney administration.