A Changing GOP?

Marc Ambinder has a very interesting post up today:

Here are some of the highlights from GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio's mammoth survey of Republicans.

First, compared to 1997, when Fabrizio last surveyed a sample this size, more Republicans describe themselves as conservatives. The average Republican is older, attends church one a week, is a little less Protestant, a little more Catholic, or -- a lot more "other".

According to Fabrizio, the party’s social/cultural wing remains about the same size, while the economic wing has “shrunk by nearly two thirds.” Replacing those Republicans have been national security and defense voters. Free marketeers, per Fabrizio, comprise about 8 percent of the GOP electorate. They’re skeptical of government action, largely male, baby-boomerish, less frequent church-goers, and they’re not moralists. Fabrizio believes that these voters comprise Fred Thompson’s strongest voting block.

... Farbizio concludes that the is GOP united in:

– Desire to balance the budget – Belief that government spends too much – Belief that taxes are too high – Belief that federal government is too big and does too many things – Belief that current immigrations laws should be followed and no special treatment – War in Iraq was the right decision – Belief that our Foreign Policy should be based on our own security and economic interests – Support of employment non-discrimination for gays.