Conservatives will have to "adjust their approach" to score major gains in 2010

Republicans in Resurgence

A new poll by Resurgent Republic, a conservative group, confirms the trends that other political observers have been seeing: This year’s electorate leans to the right, with most independents seeing eye to eye with Republicans on the major issues. But the survey also includes some warning signs for conservatives.

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The survey, in short, provides an enormous amount of good news for Republicans and conservatives. It even finds that Republicans in Congress, while still unpopular, are less disliked than Democrats in Congress. But the picture is not wholly sunny. A fair reading of the survey results suggests that conservatives would have to adjust their approach on some issues to bring the public on board.

It is Republican voters who are out of step with independents, for example, on the question of whether human beings are causing climate change. Most voters are also open to creating “a path to citizenship” for illegal immigrants, while Republicans believe that would reward lawbreaking.

The survey found that voters want to elect Republican congressmen as a counterweight to the Democrats — but their receptivity to the check-and-balance argument depended on how it was made. An argument that suggested that the Democrats were being “arrogant” and “ignoring what most voters want” persuaded fewer voters than an argument about the danger of “too much power in one party’s hands.” Similarly, voters were more receptive to the argument that federal spending is being squandered in ways that “create few private sector jobs” than to the argument that “the Obama Administration is taking advantage of the recession to make massive increases in government spending” that would hurt the economy. Voters do not attribute malign intent to Obama or his party. [...]

Read the whole thing for the details. It's obvious that it's the swing voters that can "swing" the election in the Republican's favor. If conservatives insist on ignoring swing voters in favor of ideological purity, the gains Republicans will make in 2010 may be less than we need, and short-lived. The Uber conservatives need to learn how to adapt, and embrace incremental change... or die.