Previously, I stated that the establishments of both major parties on the national level appear to be systematically alienating their rank and file. A recent Gallup Poll indicates that Independent is now the most popular voter affiliation in the nation at 42% on average for 2013. Democrats come in second at 31% with Republicans coming in third at 25%. Compare those numbers with twenty years ago and the change is quite remarkable. According to the Statistical Abstract of the United States, in 1994, the year that Republicans picked up an historic 54 seats in the House of Representatives, Independents comprised only 10% of the electorate, with the Democrats at 47% and Republicans at 43%.

Clearly there has been a sea change in the national political landscape. Across the spectrum, voters have become disillusioned with the leadership, the so called “establishment”, of each party. Interestingly, according to Gallup, only one in five Independents identify themselves as liberal. More than one in three identifies as conservative. The rest are somewhere in between.

Conservatives make up the largest single bloc of voters in the US. Conservatives and moderates account for more than three fourths of all voters. Considering the hard turn to the left by the Democrats over the last twenty years it isn’t hard to understand the decrease in their ranks. However, the fact that the Republicans have lost even more ground is a head scratcher.

It’s even more puzzling when you consider another poll that Gallup has conducted since 1965. It is comprised of one question: “In your opinion, which of the following will be the biggest threat to the country in the future - big business, big labor, or big government?” The answer, according to Gallup, is this: “Seventy-two percent of Americans say big government is a greater threat to the U.S. in the future than is big business or big labor, a record high in the nearly 50-year history of this question. The prior high for big government was 65% in 1999 and 2000. Big government has always topped big business and big labor, including in the initial asking in 1965, but just 35% named it at that time”.

Against this backdrop one would think that the GOP would have to work pretty hard to drive voters from their ranks, but apparently they are doing just that. Again, according to Gallup, the Democrats, a/k/a the party of Big Government holds a favorability edge over Republicans by six percentage points. In fact, among conservatives, only 47% view the party favorably while 46% view it unfavorably. Go figure. Taken together, America’s growing fear of Big Government and the approval ratings of the GOP shouldn’t add up. It’s a mixed up muddled up shook up world.

Traditionally, the GOP has stood for smaller government and is allegedly against Big Government. Considering that 72% of all Americans consider Big Government a serious threat to their future, the GOP’s approval ratings should be soaring. But they’re not. In fact, instead of the stars aligning, a hockey game appears to have broken out. Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), the Speaker of the House and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the Minority Leader in the Senate, have both recently lashed out at the so called tea party. Furthermore, the US Chamber of Commerce, an organization that represents the nation’s largest businesses has announced that it will spend millions backing “pro business” candidates against “tea party” incumbents in Republican primaries. Hmmm.

It’s fascinating that there appears to be agreement among the US Chamber of Commerce, the leadership of the Democrats and the leadership of the GOP that the tea party is the problem. That’s something to ponder. But I keep hearing from the mainstream media that the tea party is dead so I wonder what all the fuss is about. However, whatever else might be said, rightly or wrongly about tea party groups, they are uniformly in favor of smaller constitutional government. That makes them part of the 72%.

While the battle within the GOP rages on the national level, the grassroots are growing under the leadership’s feet as Main Street strikes back. Recently the local GOP executive committee in Mariposa County, home of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has censured him for his “long and terrible record” that violated party principles. Wow. The former presidential candidate’s approval ratings in his home state have plummeted to a new low of 26%. On a similar note, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has been censured by several GOP county executive committees for similar reasons. His approval ratings have dropped from 72% to 45% in the last few months.

Washington has become a political bubble. The leadership of both parties seems to be out of touch with Main Street. The Democrats seem to be set in their ways, but there are interesting things afoot in the GOP at the state and local level. The times they may be a changin’; at least I hope so.