I  recently conducted a confidential post-election poll in a swing state and asked voters to compare the two parties — Republicans and Democrats — on issues and images. Most of the results were of the ho-hum, what-we’d-expect variety.

Republicans are still seen as best at keeping taxes down and fighting terrorism, while Democrats are still preeminent when it comes to healthcare and schools. In spite of the seeming mega-shift in the two major parties’ electoral fortunes, their primary images mostly remain intact.

To try and dig deeper into the factors that unseated the GOP majority, I asked about some seldom-examined image-traits of the parties. The most important of these asked voters which party would best be described as friendly and open. The results weren’t even close. By a 3-to-1 margin, voters perceived the Democrats as a friendlier party.

The magnitude of the Democratic advantage cut across most every demographic segment of the electorate, declining only among seniors, especially older men. But even in that slice of the electorate the Democrats maintained a solid 2-to-1 edge in friendliness.

Some of the political cross-tabs were fascinating. Voters who described themselves as Republicans, but then said their partisanship isn’t very strong, didn’t think either party is very friendly. It doesn’t appear that marginal Republicans are a threat to leave us on account of Democrats’ beguiling entreaties. But they might be wooed by an Independent candidacy.

The registered Independent and non-partisan voters in this poll were the coup-de-grāce for Republicans. By a 10-to-1 margin, they consider Democrats more friendly and open.

It’s possible that the unfriendly image being projected by many Republicans is the unanticipated result of some GOP strategists’ single-minded focus on the party base voter. Because our campaigns focus so much on GOP turnout, we’ve lost our swing-voter persuasion mojo.

The party’s laser-like focus on a few narrow, worn-out issues has also signaled to everyone else that Republicans are not open to new ideas or thinking.

In a variety of subliminal ways, Republicans have been sending off surly vibes to everyone who hasn’t drunk the GOP Kool-Aid. “We don’t need your stinkin’ swing votes,” is what some Independents are hearing, even if we don’t say so openly.

It hasn’t always been this way. In years past, we were a party of outreach. In the late-1980s, when we were struggling to permanently realign the South, I recall attending a strategy session in Florida at which we talked of organizing a Republican “Welcome Wagon” campaign that would visit new residents of that state, give them voter-registration cards, and share some information about the Republican agenda. I can also recall a similar effort being mounted in Detroit’s suburbs.

But lately, I think the Welcome Wagons have been put into storage, forgotten somewhere over in the back part of the GOP attic where we keep the old “I Like Ike” memorabilia.

People did like Ike. And GOP candidates in the next cycle should strive to be likeable. State parties should think about welcoming new voters, whether they be newly registered 18-year-olds or move-ins from elsewhere.

When I was a professor at Texas A&M University, the institution put a great deal of emphasis on encouraging students, staff and faculty to say “Howdy!” to everyone they met on campus. You never knew when someone might be a prospective student choosing between A&M and that other school in Austin. So we said “Howdy!”

I don’t know that “Howdy!” would work in Maine or Colorado or even Florida. Perhaps just a simple “Hi!” or “Good day to you!” would signal our friendly interest in others. But let’s find some words that say we welcome voters into our party. And let’s open up the agenda to attract some new blood.

Hill is director of Hill Research Consultants, a Texas-based firm that has polled for GOP candidates and causes since 1988.