Voters Get
What voters deserve. That’s how free elections work. CNN’s Political Ticker happily reports a majority of Americans like the Dem lock on Congress and the White House. But there’s a caveat … big enough to herd a political circus through:
It was one of John McCain’s closing arguments: “We’re getting a glimpse of what one-party rule would look like under Obama, Pelosi, and Reid. Apparently it starts with lowering our defenses and raising our taxes,” …
But a new national poll suggests why a majority of voters didn’t seem to buy that argument, as Barack Obama beat McCain in the presidential election and the Democrats made major gains in both the House, under Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the Senate, under Majority Leader Harry Reid.
In the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Tuesday, 59 percent of those questioned said Democratic control of both the executive and legislative branches will be good for the country, compared with 38 percent saying such one-party control will be bad.
“That much good will from the public opens a window of opportunity for the Democrats,” said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “But the public expects results, and may not listen to excuses for very long if a Democratic Congress and a Democratic White House can’t get their act together in time.”
Everybody loves a band wagon. It’s an opportunity for the Dems to do what they do best. Bollix their opportunities. Meanwhile, ringmaster Obama apparently has long coattails.
“Democratic congressional leaders, much maligned this fall, have also seen a boost in their approval rating,” Holland said. “Nearly half of those polled now approve of how congressional Democrats are handling their job, up from just a third who felt that way a month ago.”
Schneider added, “Same thing happens when you ask them about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Good-bad, 50-50, among voters who even know who they are.”
It’s a different story for the GOP, with just 24 percent approving of how Republican leaders are handling their jobs and nearly three in four disapproving.
Yeah, well, they lost. Three in four disapprove. But maybe it’s a deeper malaise, reflecting on the fact that during the election and since, so many Republicans have behaved like Democrats. Erratically and counterproductively. It gets interesting here:
But that doesn’t mean the public wants to see the GOP shut out of government. Seven out of eight want the Democrats to include Republican views in any legislation they pass.
“What about those times, and they will occur, when Barack Obama and the Democratic leaders in Congress disagree,” asked Holland. “The public is likely to side with Obama: 59 percent say they are more likely to trust him than the congressional Democrats.”
Fascinating. Obama, technically, still is a congressional Democrat.
Speaking of voters getting what voters deserve, Obama camp had talks with another people’s choice: Hamas.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 8:22 am on Wednesday, November 12, 2008
6 Responses to “Voters Get”
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November 12th, 2008 at 8:43 am
I don’t get it. Congress, led by Democrats, has a well deserved historically low approval rating. So people obviously realize how much they suck. So why is that they think more of the same is going to be a good thing? Are they just.. stupid?
Seriously. If someone can come up with an alternate explanation I’ll feel a lot better.
November 12th, 2008 at 8:47 am
We have had Labour controlling both our legislative house for 11 years and look where it has got us. I never thought I would live in a third world dictatorship. If you want to compare Obama with someone try Mugabe.
November 12th, 2008 at 10:14 am
See, Nicholas, it was that evil Chimpy McBushhitler that was holding the Democratic Congress back. The dissatisfaction of the people with Congress was due to their failure to stand up to him. Now that he’s gone, we can have our glorious new era of hope and change!
November 12th, 2008 at 10:19 am
By the way, I just read about an AP poll that had 40% thinking that having Dems in control was a good thing, and 20% saying it wouldn’t make a difference. That seems much more realistic than the CNN poll result of 60% saying “good,” so I’m thinking that somebody at CNN is attempting a little public opinion manipulation here.
November 12th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
CNN attempting to manipulate public opinion? Say it ain’t so!
November 12th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
When Obama can make John Kerry, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi sound as though they have a modicum of sense, then I’ll believe.
When Obama can walk on water, then I’ll believe.
When Obama can grow hair on Henry Waxman’s head, then I’ll believe.
BTW, Jules meet Jules