Republican leaders out of touch with voters....Republican voters.

Okay, so it may be too early to call this a trend. But it’s increasingly obvious that the GOP Congressional leadership is at risk of being at odds with even Republican rank and file voters on key issues.

Case in point: Cap-and-trade. New poll numbers from The Washington Post show that there’s strong support across the board for a cap-and-trade approach to curbing greenhouse gas emissions. While this approach is currently opposed by Republican leaders, a surprising 60% of liberal and moderate Republicans favor it.

Health care? Check. This week’s New York Times poll found that even 50% of Republicans back a public insurance option as part of health care reform, a position strongly opposed by GOP leaders.

Even Republican strategists acknowledge this problem. David Hill, who has polled for Republican candidates for years, wrote yesterday that on health care, there is a “dangerous gap between the opinions of Republicans in Congress and Republican followers.”

The widening gap on issues could help explain why Republicans seem to be souring on their party in general: A Gallup poll earlier this month found that a surprising 38% of Republicans and GOP-leaners view the party unfavorably.

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/republican-party/gop-leaders-parting-ways-on-key-issues-with-gop-rank-and-file/