Republicans want a tougher, more conservative Speaker

October 14, 2015, 5:54 PM GMT+0

Republicans want the next Speaker to be less compromising, and more conservative, than John Boehner was

House Speaker John Boehner’s resignation from Congress – and the ensuing delay in finding a replacement – finds Republicans happy about Boehner’s resignation and looking for someone more conservative who won’t necessarily compromise. In the latest Economist/YouGov Poll, Republicans expressed their dislike for Boehner’s management of the Speakership -- just 28% approve of his handling of the job, and half think it was a good thing that he resigned.

Although it is unclear when a replacement for Boehner will be elected by the House GOP majority, what Republicans want is clear: someone who is more conservative than Boehner, and someone who will not compromise. 56% of Republicans want a Speaker who does not compromise, even if that meant being able to get more done. Half want someone more conservative than Boehner.

Conservative Republicans are especially likely to want a Speaker more conservative than they perceived Boehner to be.

Democrats and independents would like to see more compromise from the Republican leadership. 79% of Democrats and 63% of independents want to see a Speaker compromise in order to get things done.

However, the GOP preference for someone who sticks to principles, no matter what, has limits. Cooperation sounds better than compromise. Republicans are divided on whether the next Speaker should be willing to work with the President and Congressional Democrats so that Congress can accomplish more or whether there should be less cooperation with Democrats.

Conservative Republicans aren’t so sure about the value of cooperation. 37% of conservative Republicans would cooperate, but 45% of them think the next Speaker should oppose Democrats even if it means accomplishing less.

Americans of all political parties view Congress’ recent history as one with little accomplishment. Overall, 45% think the current Congress has accomplished even less than usual. Just 9% approve of how Congress overall is handling its job, and only 19% approve of their own Representative’s performance. Those opinions may help explain why Americans would like to have more attempts at passing legislation, even if that legislation doesn’t pass.

The public -- and Republicans – disapprove of the Congressional leadership’s practice of not scheduling a final vote on legislation unless it is expected to pass. And even Republicans would get rid of what is known as the “Hastert Rule,” named after the former Speaker – only scheduling a vote on legislation that a majority of the majority party supports [the Hastert Rule is not always observed in practice, however].

In short, Republicans appear to want the new Speaker to accomplish more, compromise less, and be more conservative than the outgoing Speaker John Boehner.

See the Economist/YouGov results

Economist/YouGov poll archives can be found here.