Voters Prefer GOP Majority

[Frodo]

Are you depressed yet?
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Polls show voters prefer GOP Hill majority

By JONATHAN ALLEN | 9/6/11 4:00 PM EDT

The public hates Congress — and, in theory, that ought to be a good thing for minority House Democrats in 2012.  In theory.

Most folks, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, would purge all lawmakers from office — even the local representative. By a 58 percent to 31 percent margin, registered voters believe Democrats will do a better job of “standing up for the middle class,” according to a POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground poll. And in a third survey released Tuesday, conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News, only 28 percent of respondents approve of the way congressional Republicans are doing their jobs.

But buried in the Journal/NBC poll is a contradictory nugget: Registered voters, by a 47 percent to 41 percent spread, would rather have Republicans in charge of Congress. That’s the highest level of preference for Republican control since the question was first posed 15 years ago. At a time when the White House is fond of the mantra that an election is “a choice, not a referendum,” it appears that voters aren’t ready to choose Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi over Speaker John Boehner.

The POLITICO/George Washington poll puts Pelosi’s favorable/unfavorable rating at 29 percent to 52 percent, while House Speaker John Boehner has a much closer 27 percent to 31 percent gap.

And generic vote testing, which historically favors Democrats, is about even: Democrats led 41 percent to 40 percent, including respondents who leaned in one direction or the other, according to the POLITICO/GWU poll.

“Nothing that exists in the public record today represents the kind of numbers or momentum Democrats would need to pivot and take control of the House,” said Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies, whose firm teamed with Hart Research to conduct the Journal/NBC poll.

To read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/62747.html

[Keystone Phil]

Are you depressed yet?

No.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

So the American people know which party stands for the middle-class, but they want the people who don't to run Congress?

Yeah.  I don't how to interpret polls with these kinds of conflicting messages.  That just makes me want to ignore them.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

"Standing up for the middle class" is an emotional appeal, a kind of advocacy. Many voters are more concerned with turning around the economy at large and reducing the deficit - the poll shows Republicans have a slight advantage on the first and a large one on the second.

plus Reid and Pelosi are toxic, much moreso than McConnell and Boehner.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

"Standing up for the middle class" is an emotional appeal, a kind of advocacy. Many voters are more concerned with turning around the economy at large and reducing the deficit - the poll shows Republicans have a slight advantage on the first and a large one on the second.

plus Reid and Pelosi are toxic, much moreso than McConnell and Boehner.

No middle-class, no good economy.  If you're rich you'll be just fine, though.

Numerous polls have shown huge majorities of Americans- even Republicans- placing job growth over the deficit.

The media is largely why Pelosi is so disapproved of.  Also, people still won't let go of that "pass the bill to see what's in it" gaffe.  As for Reid... I just wish the Senate Dems would replace him, already.

[Nichlemn]

"Standing up for the middle class" is an emotional appeal, a kind of advocacy. Many voters are more concerned with turning around the economy at large and reducing the deficit - the poll shows Republicans have a slight advantage on the first and a large one on the second.

plus Reid and Pelosi are toxic, much moreso than McConnell and Boehner.

No middle-class, no good economy.

No rich people, no good economy.

Of course, both imply false dichotomies which hold little relevance for comtemporary political debate.
 

[greenforest32]

"Standing up for the middle class" is an emotional appeal, a kind of advocacy. Many voters are more concerned with turning around the economy at large and reducing the deficit - the poll shows Republicans have a slight advantage on the first and a large one on the second.

plus Reid and Pelosi are toxic, much moreso than McConnell and Boehner.

No middle-class, no good economy.  If you're rich you'll be just fine, though.

Numerous polls have shown huge majorities of Americans- even Republicans- placing job growth over the deficit.

The media is largely why Pelosi is so disapproved of.  Also, people still won't let go of that "pass the bill to see what's in it" gaffe.  As for Reid... I just wish the Senate Dems would replace him, already.

Yup. Voters in this country are idiots. As bad as Democrats were, the Republicans didn't deserve to win the House in 2010. Just look at the fantastic legislation coming out of there (zero jobs bills, budget lowering taxes for the rich further and phasing out medicare, debt ceiling hostage "deal", etc).

[Marokai Backbeat]

I'm beginning to think that American voters are not only really dumb and ill-informed, but also self-loathing and masochistic.

[Franzl]

I'm beginning to think that American voters are not only really dumb and ill-informed, but also self-loathing and masochistic.

That would explain a lot

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

"Standing up for the middle class" is an emotional appeal, a kind of advocacy. Many voters are more concerned with turning around the economy at large and reducing the deficit - the poll shows Republicans have a slight advantage on the first and a large one on the second.

plus Reid and Pelosi are toxic, much moreso than McConnell and Boehner.

No middle-class, no good economy.

No rich people, no good economy.

Of course, both imply false dichotomies which hold little relevance for comtemporary political debate.
 

Wrong.  The vast majority of Americans are middle-class.  Being rich is great because you don't have anything to worry about, being the class that owns two-thirds of the wealth and such, but they need no special treatment.  'How the rich is doing' isn't and shouldn't be an issue in this country.  At all.

[Nichlemn]

"Standing up for the middle class" is an emotional appeal, a kind of advocacy. Many voters are more concerned with turning around the economy at large and reducing the deficit - the poll shows Republicans have a slight advantage on the first and a large one on the second.

plus Reid and Pelosi are toxic, much moreso than McConnell and Boehner.

No middle-class, no good economy.

No rich people, no good economy.

Of course, both imply false dichotomies which hold little relevance for comtemporary political debate.
 

Wrong.  The vast majority of Americans are middle-class.  Being rich is great because you don't have anything to worry about, being the class that owns two-thirds of the wealth and such, but they need no special treatment.  'How the rich is doing' isn't and shouldn't be an issue in this country.  At all.

My comment was purely about the economy. It is true the economy would likely be bad if there was no middle class, but it was also be bad (arguably more so) if there were no rich people. Fortunately, despite rhetoric, neither party's policies will eliminate either group.

As an aside, if it was all about justice and not cynical pandering to the median voter, the focus should be on the poor.

[Bacon King]

Here's a link to the NBC/WSJ poll the article talks about.

There's plenty of interesting things in there besides the Congressional ballot question.

56% of respondents still say that the current economic conditions are "a situation that Barack Obama has inherited"; while only 33% instead say it's "a situation his policies are mostly responsible for"; it seems that the majority of the electorate is still blaming Bush.

72% say that US economic conditions "still have a ways to go" before they hit the bottom, but only 38% say that the government should "worry more about boosting the economy" rather than worrying about keeping the budget deficit down. So, most people think the economy will get worse but don't think the government should do something about it.

30% blame Congressional Republicans for the S&P rating downgrades, compared to 13% who blame Obama, 15% who blame Congressional Democrats, and 15% who volunteered "all of them": the fact that voters blame the Republicans a lot more shows there's a lot of potential here for big attacks from the DCCC or whoever.

60% of voters find repealing the Bush tax cuts for people making over $250,000 acceptable.

A record low of 21% say we're less safe from terrorism than we were on 9/11. It seems that even if the actual bump in Obama's approvals from killing Bin Laden was slight, it's significantly improved how the voters perceive his handling of national security.

[Mehmentum]

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I'm beginning to think that American voters are not only really dumb and ill-informed, but also self-loathing and masochistic.

Also:

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While that sounds good for Democrats, adding Obama's and Congressional Democrat's numbers together gives a number very close to 30%.

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

And Bonher is getting primaried courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Tea Party