A good look at the fringe.

In the past I've characterized the 'fringe' voting blocs* on the Left and Right as roughly that 30% of the population that will toe the party line on any isue no matter what. Even when things go horribly wrong (Iraq) are horribly designed (health care) or are just horribly incompetent (Houston Metro) these idealists will back their chosen party to the bitter end, always coming up with some flimsy rationalization why "their" side is the right side no matter the facts.

Given the latest surveys, It appears that I've overshot my estimation by 10%:

(Americans Are More Skeptical of Washington Than Ever, Andrew Kohut, WSJ)

Over the course of the past decade we've seen a spike in intense anti government attitudes amongst a small segment of the public. The proportion saying they are angry with the federal government has doubled since 2000, increasing to 21% from 10%.

...

This is not the case today. Just 22% say they can trust the government in Washington almost always or most of the time, among the lowest measures in half a century.

The emphasis above is mine.

The take-away from this is that, from now on, when I mention the non-thinking, spoon-fed fringe, I'm referring to the roughly 20% of people on the margins and not about the 60% that are more level headed.










*Included in the "fringe" (for lack of a better word) are the entirety of the InterLeft and Bloggers O'the Right, The ChronBlog Caucasian Think-Tank and anyone who truly believes electing their chosen party is the key to fixing the problems that are facing America.