Polling: In Which We Find Republicans Still Have a Problem
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.
Tags: 2010 Election, Congress, Polls, President Obama
We desperately need to get away from the two party system.
So many people choose their stance on social and economic issues simply on “their” partys position, not whether it makes any sense.
A large segment of our population wait to hear what Rush Limbaugh or Rachael Maddow has to say before they take a position so they can have their talking points instead of researching a topic and coming to their own conclusion.
Galty,
“So many conservative douche bags choose their stance on social and economic issues simply on “their” partys position, not whether it makes any sense.”
Fixed!
There is no comparison between the influence of the right wing and left wing media. To suggest that marks you as a douche bag.
agreed jason. Atlas, dont compare an informed measured pragmatist like Rachael to that fat racist addict.
The two above post is exactly what I was refering to.
Jason and a.price live by the dogma of my party right or wrong.
If you need to make your point by invoking a false equivalence between Rush Limbaugh and Rachel Maddow, it seems clear that you have no idea what you are referring to. Exactly.
well it should be evident by his choice to use the screen name of a moronic character in an awful book written by a crazy person.
false equivalence, lying, willful stupidity… those or the tools of the conservatives trade.
If you read what he wrote, he didn’t compare the two.
Yes. He did.
A large segment of our population wait to hear what Rush Limbaugh or Rachael Maddow has to say before they take a position so they can have their talking points instead of researching a topic and coming to their own conclusion.
So stop being a contrarian dumbfuck for the sake of being a contrarian dumbfuck.
How is that comparing Rush with Rachael? It wasn’t. All he said was that a lot of people listen to them. Are you saying that isn’t true? Saying that people eat apples and oranges isn’t comparing the merits of either apples or oranges.
Compare: “to estimate, measure, or note the similarity or dissimilarity”
Stop being a pawn for the Obomba and the dems. They both happen to suck big-time right now.
There is being a critic and there is being a idiotic contrarian joke. The line is fading in your rear view mirror.
There is a difference between being a progressive liberal and being a crumb-loving jellyfish.
And I think you have it within you to be a more effective progressive liberal. I’m glad we’ve had this little chat.
Effective is the key word. Please read this kos diary.
Sound familiar?
That kos diary is so important pandora. So many people have bought into the idea that if they criticize Obama that means I’m moving the debate to the left. Unfortunately a lot of these critics reinforce what the right wing is saying, thereby strengthening their criticisms.
It appears Obama is moving to the right…changes we are seeing include nuclear reactors, terrorist trials moving back to military courts, war policy moved back to where it was…well, there is change to our debt.
Mr. Galt could have just as easily said that a large segment of the population waits to hear what Glenn Beck or Keith Olbermann will say about an issue before taking a position. It doesn’t place Beck and Olbermann in the same basket; it merely observes that there are sheep on both sides of the aisle who prefer for political commentators to do their thinking for them, rather than doing their own research and developing original opinions.
You know, you don’t do yourself any favors by actually working this hard to re-orient basic English rhetoric to be able to pretend to some other message. People here (there are exceptions) have pretty high levels of reading comprehension and when you need a paragraph to rewrite one simple bit of rhetoric, you have lost this argument.
And for the record — conflating Glenn Beck and Keith Olbermann is just as brain dead. And it is a shame you can’t tell the difference. Or are deliberately trying to rewrite the rules of rhetoric.
I’m sure that you know the correct definition of “conflate,” so I assume you intentionally used the wrong word to change the meaning of my statement. I most certainly didn’t conflate Beck and Olbermann. It would be more appropriate to say that I compared them, in terms of each having influence (not necessarily equal, and not necessarily justified, either) within his own party.
In other words, shut up and eat your crumbs. Well, no. Hell no. Obomba/LIEberman’s HCR, for example, was a bad step in the wrong direction. Obomba’s sucking up to the right while ignoring progressives is a bad step in the wrong direction. Escalating the war in Afghanistan while conducting a secret war in Pakistan is a bad step in the wrong direction. Planning to keep 30,000+ Americans in Iraq is a bad step in the wrong direction. Implementing a spending freeze is a bad step in the wrong direction.
Obomba just keeps taking more and more bad steps in the wrong direction.
Chris, you and I both know that saying, for example, “people eat apples and oranges” isn’t “comparing” apples and oranges. But hypersensitivity makes it difficult for some people to admit that.
There is being a critic and there is being a idiotic contrarian joke. The line is fading in your rear view mirror because you turn everything into an attack. It is just stupid and infantile. Have a nice day.
I thought we were done with our little chat.
I am now. I’m very much over your holier than thou act. Good day.
By the way, Jason, who neutered you? Do you think we should suddenly become less critical just because the President has a “D” instead of an “R” after his name? Personally, I am a “question authority” type of person. Ds happen to have more good guys on their team than Rs, but neither deserve a free pass.
I contributed to Obomba’s campaign and I voted for him twice. I’d much rather be defending him than attacking him, but he has turned out to be an utter disappointment relative to the “hope and change” that he promised.
I said “good day” dipshit.
in terms of each having influence (not necessarily equal, and not necessarily justified, either) within his own party.
And this would be the conflation’s results.
The pity of it is that you took the lazy way to try to make your point — the lazy way being try to to pretend that Beck and Olbermann have the same project. Much like Galt’s post presumes that Rush and Maddow have the same project. What is lazy about it? There are liberal counterparts to Rush and Beck — but you have no idea who they are. So you reach for the names you know — which not only reveals that you don’t know what it is that Beck and Limbaugh do every day, but that you have no idea that there really are liberal counterparts (sort of) to them.
I think Jason’s mindless rants proved my point.
Thanks to Chris and anonoe for bringing some reason (and reading comprehension) to this post.
I’m sure Jason still has no understanding of the meaning of my original post.
Galt, if your recent bit of nonsense makes you feel better about your original nonsense, then I’m happy for you.
Galt’s post did NOT presume “that Rush and Maddow have the same project.” You did. Maybe if you learned to take responsibility for your own presumptions, you’ wouldn’t make so many wrong ones.
And if you had any credibility in a good-faith reading of someone else’s posts, this might have some meaning.
he used them as examples from left and right wing talking points. true he didn’t say “they are each other’s counterparts” but the connection was made. A1, your crusades are getting weaker and weaker. I long for the days when you were simply a wagon jumping disloyal lefTeabag.