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A major freak out is occurring on the right as a new poll released by a Republican polling company has found that 20% of Republicans are more likely to vote for Obama.

The poll done by Republican polling firm Wenzel Strategies for World Net Daily found something similar to my own recent analysis of state polling data that the 2012 election is beginning to look like a replay of 2008. The Wenzel/WND poll turned up the surprising statistic that no matter who the Republican nominee is, one fifth of the Republican voters surveyed are leaning towards voting for President Obama.

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The only Republican candidate who doesn’t lose at least 20% of GOP voters to Obama is Ron Paul, and he loses 19%. The poll found that 54% of those surveyed believed that Obama had exceeded or lived up to their expectations, and 47% said that he had not. Sixty percent of Independents thought Obama has met or exceeded their expectations as did 52% of moderates. In the head to head match ups with all voters polled Obama leads Romney, 48%-41%, Gingrich, 50%-36%, and Santorum, 49%-34%. Ron Paul fares best against Obama and he trails the president, 44%-40%.

Needless to say the right wing is freaking out over this poll. They realize that if 20% of Republicans defect from their party to support Obama, they will not win in 2012. Some on the right are claiming that the improving economy is helping Obama. Others are blaming the ugliness of the Republican primary for making all of the GOP alternatives unelectable. Most of their blame is being directed at Mitt Romney, as they use this poll to call for more conservative non-Romney candidate.

We also can’t dismiss the wing nut theories that the 20% of Republicans are really Democrats who are being paid by George Soros, and that white guilt is motivating one fifth of Republicans to possibly support the president.

All of these theories range from the logical to the bizarre, but they all overlook something. The majority of the American people personally like Barack Obama, and the Republican candidates really suck. It isn’t just the candidates’ fault though, the root of the problem rests with the positions of the Republican Party.

The GOP has taken unpopular positions on raising taxes on the wealthy, killing Medicare, creating jobs, birth control, and just about every other issue (minus the deficit) that matters to the American people.

The years of Republicans taking positions that show that they don’t care about what the vast majority of Americans want has not only alienated Democrats and Independents, but also a portion of Republicans. Raising taxes on the wealthy is a popular position with a sizable percentage of Republicans. The GOP has ignored these members of their own party, while at the same trying to nominate a candidate who embodies the one percent. In contrast, Obama has taken the appealing position that taxes need to be raised on the wealthy. Raising taxes on the wealthy is the sort of issue that make some Republicans think twice about voting for Obama.

The truth is that the far right is freaking out because they don’t understand how so many of their fellow Republicans could consider voting for a president that they can only see through their Marxist/Socialist delusions about him. The reality is that the imaginary Obama they see isn’t the same as what the rest of America sees.

The right is melting down because they are realizing that not only that Obama may get reelected, but members of their own party may help him do it.

Yes, we can, indeed.

Image: BarackObama.com