It is fair to note that this poll shows a pretty toxic environment for both parties, but it seems clear that if you are a Congressional Dem, you have abit of an edge to build from. And if you are a Congressional repub, the massive media spin (and media lock) isn’t exactly getting you alot of traction. Not yet, at least.
The poll is a new NYT/CBS News Poll that was released this week. Some highlights:
- The top issues facing America ranked by responders include: Jobs – 27%, Economy – 25%, Health Care 13%. The only other issue in the double digit range is Other;
- 8% say members of Congress deserve re-election;
- 31% say BushCo was responsible for the current state of the economy, 23% say Wall Street is, 13% say Congress is and only 7% say the Obama administration is responsible;
- 41% blame the Bush admin for the current deficit problem; 24% blame Congress for it; only 7% blame the Obama administration for it;
- To reduce the deficit:
- 62% would not be willing to reduce spending on health care or education
- 45% would be willing to reduce military spending, while 51% would not be willing
- 56% say that Mr. Obama does not have a plan to create jobs;
- 55% approve of the way that Mr. Obama is handling terrorism;
- 56% want smaller government; 59% thought it was doing too much;
- 62% support an end to tax cuts for the wealthy;
- 78% say government is run by a few big special interests;
- 80% thought Congress was more interested in serving special interests than the people they represent;
- 60% said the President understood their problems, 42% thought the same about Congressional Democrats and 35% for Congressional Republicans;
- 62% said Mr. Obama was trying to work with Congressional Republicans, while 62% said that Republicans were not trying to work with Mr. Obama;
- 74% said Republicans should compromise more;
- 50% said the Senate should change the filibuster rules to require a simple majority to pass legislation;
- Clear majorities of Americans favor allowing gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military but the way the question is worded makes a very big difference in the level of support: 75% Support Gays Openly Serving In Military; 66% Think It’s Discrimination To Not Allow It;
- Only 18% of responders are supporters of the Tea Party movement.
I don’t think you can overstate how toxic this environment is to anybody in the Federal government right now. But there is a pretty clear hierarchy of approval/good will here and President Obama is at the top of that hierarchy for now. Why congressional Democrats don’t take advantage of that — and help themselves and Obama — is a real mystery to me.