Ryan Streeter
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On the biggest foreign policy and domestic policy questions of the day, grassroots conservatives seem to be feeling their oats.
Think the grassroots want out of Afghanistan now that bin Laden is dead? Think again. Think conservatives are still unclear about whether entitlements or spending are a graver threat to our fiscal well-being? Think again.
In our latest poll of of 878 conservative Republicans, taken from our Republican Panel which was assembled for ConservativeHome by YouGov, a plurality of conservatives want to stay and finish the job in Afghanistan "no matter how long it takes." And, among those who support Congress's raising the debt ceiling on the condition that spending reductions are included, a plurality support including entitlement reform in the requirements.
Here are the details:
Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, what are your views on the military operations in Afghanistan?
46% - I think we should stay and finish the job, no matter how long it takes
27% - I think we should finish the job, but set a time limit for our troop withdrawal
27% - I think we should pull our troops out immediately
While one might argue that the middle 27% represents some level of war fatigue, it's clear that grassroots conservatives strongly feel the U.S. should finish what it started out to do in Afghanistan.
With regard to the debt ceiling, a significant number of conservatives don't want to raise the limit on debt. No surprise there. But for respondents who agree with the GOP leadership's plan to demand cuts in exchange for raising the ceiling, a plurality - fully one-third of respondents - want to leave the military OUT of the cuts, but keep entitlements IN.
This is significant, since earlier this year, conservatives overwhelmingly preferred focusing on discretionary spending over entitlement spending. They began to warm to entitlement cuts around about March.
Republicans have demanded that any increase to the federal debt ceiling be coupled with spending cuts. Which best reflects your view?
44% - I don't think we should raise the debt ceiling
33% - We should cut discretionary domestic programs and entitlement spending, but not military spending, as conditions for raising the debt ceiling
18% - We should cut military spending, discretionary domestic programs, and entitlement (Medicare, Social Security) spending as conditions for raising the debt ceiling
5% - We should only cut discretionary domestic program spending as a condition for raising the debt ceiling
The fact that grassroots conservatives show a greater interest in cutting BOTH entitlements AND discretionary spending, rather than discretionary spending alone, suggests a growing awareness of the fiscal threat entitlements pose.
