Easy Question of the Day: Are Republican Policies Too Extreme?

Earlier in the month Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein were pointing out how the mainstream media missed the big story of the year–the extremism of the Republican Party. CNN partially made up for this with poll results run under the headline CNN Poll: Are GOP policies too extreme? The answer, of course, is yes:

According to the survey, 53% say the GOP should compromise more, with 41% saying the Democratic Party should give up more of the proposals it supports to develop bipartisan solutions.

“That’s due in part to the fact that the Republican brand is not doing all that well,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

Fifty-three percent of those surveyed say they view the policies of the GOP as too extreme, up 17 points from two years ago. Only 37% say they view the polices of the Democratic Party as too extreme.

It probably doesn’t help that House Speaker John Boehner, who’s leading GOP fiscal cliff negotiations with the president, is held in fairly low regard, particularly in comparison to Obama. According to the poll, 34% of the public approves of how the top Republican in the House handling his job. By contrast, the president’s approval rating stands at 52%.

Gallup has even better numbers for Obama, with his approval up to 56 percent.