Stumbled across this comment, made a year ago (September 20, 2011), as part of a feature in Politico called The Arena:

Daniel Shea Director of the Center for Political Participation, Allegheny College :

The Center for Political Participation recently released a new round of polling data. This time we surveyed county party chairs from across the nation - with a sample size of just under 500.

One of the most telling findings relates to a willingness to compromise. Seventy-eight percent of Republican leaders contend that elected officials should stick to their principles and not seek compromise solutions, while 12 percent of Democratic chairs said the same. Conversely, 88 percent of Democratic chairs thought politicians should find compromises. Just 22 percent of GOP leaders held a similar view.

Given that the next primary election is always just around the corner, "reasonable" deal makers are probably an endangered species in the GOP. They may soon be extinct.

The timing of this poll--coming right around the time Lamar Alexander stepped down from the GOP Senate leadership team so he could feel more at liberty to try to look for possible compromises with Democrats (Shea's comment was made in a thread devoted to takes on that development)--conceivably might have produced results which are not representative of how these officials might respond over an extended timeframe.

But somehow I'm inclined to doubt it.