About six-in-ten (62%) of Americans regard the Republicans as out of touch with the American people while 46% have that opinion of the Democrats.
But Republicans are more critical of their party than Democrats are of theirs on most issues, according to a survey conducted in February.
For example, 36% of Republicans say the GOP is out of touch with the American people. Just 23% of Democrats say their party is out of touch. And while 30% of Republicans say their party is not open to change, just 10% of Democrats make the same criticism of their party.
A majority of independents think both parties are out of touch. About two-thirds (65%) of independents regard the Republicans as out of touch with the public; 51% say that of the Democrats.
While Republicans are more critical of their own party than Democrats on the “being out of touch” measure, they overwhelmingly credit their party for having strong principles; 85% say the GOP has strong principles while 13% say it does not. The GOP also gets high marks from independents and Democrats for having strong principles. Fully 62% of independents say the Republican Party has strong principles, the most positive measure for any party trait tested. Even about half of Democrats (52%) say the Republican Party has strong principles. Read more
