Just 36% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say the Republican Party does an excellent or good job of standing up for traditional GOP positions on such issues as “reducing the size of government, cutting taxes and promoting conservative social values” — the lowest positive rating Republicans have given their party since Pew began tracking this measure in 2000. More than six-in-ten Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (62%) say the party has done only a fair or poor job in advocating these traditional positions. Read More

Russell Heimlich  is a former web developer at Pew Research Center.