What the GOP’s “Listening to America” Poll Reveals about the Republican Party

You can learn a lot about an organization from the questions it asks in polls—in this case, we’re talking about the Republican Party. The GOP is conducting an online poll they’re calling “Listening to America“—a poll that also gives us a snapshot of the Republican Party’s current goals, viewpoints, and priorities.

This question is perhaps the least surprising, in a poll conducted by the Republican Party, but I would note the importance of the phrasing. “Are your taxes too high?” the question asks—and there is no accompanying question asking whether your taxes are too low. It would have been simple for the survey to ask one question about taxes, allowing survey takers to select “too high” or “too low” or “satisfied”—but the survey does not do that.

“Do you feel your job is threatened by unfair trade deals?” the survey asks. Does the survey also ask whether one believes trade improves their lives, or the economy? No. No, it does not. The survey does not truly ask respondents’ opinions—instead, it reflects the negative position the Republican Party has recently adopted on trade.

This question—“Do you think legal immigration should be reduced until unemployment drops?”—draws a connecting line between immigration and unemployment. It also makes clear that the Republican Party is no longer merely against illegal immigration, as has often been claimed. For the record, our unemployment rate is currently at 4.3%, which is considered full employment. In addition, jobs are not a finite resource. Immigrants create jobs.

The Republican Party has completely forgotten how economics work.

“Do you think universities today indoctrinate rather than teach students?” the survey asks. Respondents are not given an opportunity to express positive feelings about universities. Would it have been so hard to ask “What is your view of universities today?” and then give respondents both positive and negative options? Yes. Yes it would.

“Do you want to see more done to stop radical Islamic terrorists from coming to our shores?” the question asks. In doing so it puts the question in Trump’s framing. Never mind that most recent such terror attacks in Western countries have been carried out by individuals born in those countries. Never mind that U.S. policy contributes to radicalization both at home and abroad. Oh, no! The only solution Republicans can think of is, well, Trump’s travel ban.

Speaking of which…

The survey asks respondents whether they “support Trump’s temporary restriction on immigration from terrorism-compormised countries.” Note the description of the ban as temporary—and the use of the term “restriction” rather than ban. Never mind that Trump has explicitly called for a “Muslim ban,” not a “temporary restriction.” Note, too, the “terrorism-compormised” label used for the countries included in Trump’s ban. Remind me, again—why was Saudi Arabia not included?

Oh lord. “Has illegal immigration had a negative impact on your community?” the survey asks. There is no way to indicate that such immigration has had a positive impact. Oh, no! Undocumented immigrants are definitely bad, you see! Because the Republican Party is all about paperwork and and regulations and red tape and telling people where they can and cannot—wait, what’s that? Something something red tape bad, small government good? Hmm.

The survey finishes out with this question:

“English is not currently recognized as the official language of the United States,” they say. “Do you think it should be?” they ask. They might as well have finished the survey with “We’re the party of nativism, and proud of it.”

I did identify one hopeful question in the survey:

“Do you think stopping taxpayer-funding of abortion remains a priority?” the survey asks. Note that the question does not assume that ending taxpayer funding does remain a priority. In fact, it explicitly asks whether it does. Perhaps that is one hill the Republican Party is considering ceding? We can only hope.

Overall, this survey makes clear that the Republican Party of today is more about nativism than it is about small government or “principled” conservatism. Perhaps Donald Trump is proving more successful at reworking the Republican Party than current Republican disarray might suggest.