Democrats Wanted to Be In Charge Until They Were Responsible

Greg Sargent is crying in his beer that "Republican obstructionism" is preventing Democrats from ruining things further and Democrats are getting blamed for the crappy economy they're in charge of!

What's more, the public is deeply unhappy with the Federal government's performance, with an astonishing 64 percent saying they're dissatisfied or angry about it.

Yet Republicans are not paying any price for this. While the poll shows the GOP is not trusted on the economy, Republicans have edged ahead in the generic ballot matchup, 47-46. Anti-incumbent sentiment is soaring -- only one-fourth say they're inclined to re-elected their Representative -- which will also help Republicans. And a majority, 51 percent, support GOP control of Congress so it can act as a "check" on Obama's policies.

This clearly demonstrates that people have not connected GOP obstructionism with one of its most visible results: The prevention of the extended of unemployment benefits that a sizable majority says it wants.

People also say (by large margins) that they want less government spending and lower taxes, but I notice Sargent isn't wasting any time worrying about what Americans want when it comes to that.

If this Gold-Plated Witch on Wheels is cackling, it's because she remembers liberals gleefully talking about Republican minorities for decades to come and how elections have consequences. How are those consequences doing now, buddy?

Dems Could Lose 50+ Seats in November?

That's what Nate Silverman is suggesting, and Silverman is anything but a right-leaning pollster. Liberals love him, although they might not after this assessment.

Even in Skewed Polls...

Obamacare isn't getting any more popular. As
Ed Morrissey notes, the sample skews 10 points to the Dems, which is far heavier than the number of D's that even voted for Obama in 2008. The country has moved to the right since then, so the number of R's and I's should be considerably higher than this poll shows.

You Can Only Fool Some of the People Some of the Time or All of the People Some of the Time

Why Obama Can't Move the Health-Care Numbers

One reason may be that he keeps talking about details of the proposal while voters are looking at the issue in a broader context. Polling conducted earlier this week shows that 57% of voters believe that passage of the legislation would hurt the economy, while only 25% believe it would help...

When the president responds that the plan is deficit neutral, he runs into a pair of basic problems. The first is that voters think reducing spending is more important than reducing the deficit. So a plan that is deficit neutral with a big spending hike is not going to be well received.

But the bigger problem is that people simply don't trust the official projections. People in Washington may live and die by the pronouncements of the Congressional Budget Office, but 81% of voters say it's likely the plan will end up costing more than projected. Only 10% say the official numbers are likely to be on target.

As a result, 66% of voters believe passage of the president's plan will lead to higher deficits and 78% say it's at least somewhat likely to mean higher middle-class taxes. Even within the president's own political party there are concerns on these fronts.

Americans already watch commercials that tell the people they can eat all the ice cream they want without gaining any weight. Why should politicians think the People are stupid enough to believe you can have everything for nothing? It works in election years but not the rest of the time.

Falling Further Behind

Poll shows Obama, Dems losing ground

A majority of Americans say the United States is less respected in the world than it was two years ago and think President Obama and other Democrats fall short of Republicans on the issue of national security, a new poll finds.

The Democracy Corps-Third Way survey released Monday finds that by a 10-point margin -- 51 percent to 41 percent -- Americans think the standing of the U.S. dropped during the first 13 months of Mr. Obama's presidency.

Remember when Barack Obama was going to make America more--not less--respected? World opinion isn't worth chasing.

Reading a Poll For the Results You Want

Read this post on a new Daily KOS poll of Republicans to see what I mean.

The KOS king makes a lot of grand generalizations from the results, lumping in "not sure" with "no" where convenient and not bothering to think about what "not sure" actually means (such as, "I don't know the arguments on both sides, so I'm not sure how to answer"). Hey, dumbass KOS jerk, if 42% of Republicans think Obama was born in the U.S., that means most do, not that "over half think he wasn't born in the U.S. or that it's open for debate." It also means that this is a strawman liberals use to prop up their "Republicans iz nutz" meme. Just like the question on whether Jesus Christ is the only way to go to heaven (in a political poll, yet!) explains why Republicans support a strong defense. I'm all for theological discussions, but leaping from basic tenets of Christianity to "they hate brown people" is Guiness world record size jumping.

The post and poll are worth a laugh, if nothing else. It helps liberals insulate themselves from the truth that the Democrats are tanking horribly and their policies have been rejected in virtually every political race since Obama's inauguration. They need a blankey and some thumb-sucking and this provides it for them.

More Polls to Make Lefty Heads Explode

Their campaign against Fox News seems to have backfired.

Americans do not trust the major tv news operations in the country- except for Fox News.

Our newest survey looking at perceptions of ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, and NBC News finds Fox as the only one that more people say they trust than distrust. 49% say they trust it to 37% who do not.

More Republicans trust Fox News than Democrats, and Democrats trust NBC more than any other outlet. These results aren't surprising and probably reflect a bit of the "echo chamber" mentality of the hard core of both parties. The interesting question becomes what do the mushy middle think of our media?

And interestingly enough, more people trust Fox News precisely because they think it isn't neutral and objective. As the press release says, it tells you where the future of news is heading; that is, that people no longer expect media people to be "objective" and would rather the biases be honest and upfront. I've thought for a long time that it's better to admit your bias (a la Keith Olbermann) and let the grownups determine for themselves what news they accept and what they reject, rather than trying to fool The People that you are completely objective and have no hidden viewpoints. Anyone who worked for their high school newspaper knows reporters and editors have viewpoints and frequently use the power of the press to push it (think civil rights, environmental issues, Watergate). Regardless of whether you thought Valerie Plame was newsworthy, it's arguable that pursuit of that story till somebody got convicted amounted to advocacy, not objectivity.

About that "60%of Americans Support a Public Option" Claim

Like so many things with Obamacare, that claim is bunk.

The question was not as simple as the press release made it sound: "60 percent of Americans believe a public option should be included in final healthcare legislation." Here is the question:

For this next section, please rate the statements using a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 means "Strongly Disagree" and 5 means "Strongly Agree". The higher the number, the more you agree with the statement. You can use any number in between. (READ AND ROTATE)

6a. The quality of healthcare delivered in our country will be better 12 months from now.
6b. It will be easier for people to receive care they need 12 months from now.
6c. The value of care delivered will be better 12 months from now.
6d. The total amount of money your family spends on healthcare will decrease 12 months from now.

7a. Do you believe a "Public Option" (like Medicare for everyone) should be included as part of the final legislation that Congress passes into law?
a. Yes
b. No
c. DK/NS
d. Refused

A few points. In the question, the "public option" was described as "like Medicare for everyone." Needless to say, none of the public options that are or have been under discussion fit that description.

Second, whereas the other question allowed people to rank the strength of their feelings on a scale of 1-5, the public option question did not provide for any level of nuance. You're either for it or against it or not sure.

Third, in the results according to Thomson Reuters, 59.9% answered "Yes" and 40.1% answered "No." Does that mean that no one (or at least fewer than one-tenth of one percent of people) didn't know or were not sure? That strikes me as very strange.

As always, the important part of any poll is the way the questions are phrased. If you want an abortion-supporting poll, you describe everything in terms of "choice." If you want a life-supporting poll, you describe everything in terms of the baby. The debate in health care seems to be much the same way. Calling Obamacare "Medicare for everyone" is deceptive. As William Jacobson notes, none of the proposals equate to "Medicare for everyone." Then Jacobson gives some more representative questions that won't be asked:

Do you believe a "Public Option" (like Medicare for everyone) should be included as part of the final legislation that Congress passes into law if it meant you had to wait for medical procedures?

Do you believe a "Public Option" (like Medicare for everyone) should be included as part of the final legislation that Congress passes into law if it meant you had to give up your private insurance?

Do you believe a "Public Option" (like Medicare for everyone) should be included as part of the final legislation that Congress passes into law if it meant that government ran the entire health care system?

We won't see questions like these, of course, since they don't portray Obamacare as free candy for everyone.

Those White Racists

Obama's Approval Slide Finds Whites Down to 39%

Matthew Yglesias thinks the answer is too many white pundits. That doesn't answer why white Democrats are the ones disapproving of Teh One.

Allahpundit digs into the numbers and notes Obama's terrible showing with independents (whom, we can assume, aren't racists, you know).

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 44% would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate while 37% would opt for his or her Democratic opponent…
Voters not affiliated with either party continue to heavily favor Republicans, 44% to 20%.

So Why Are Democrats Hellbent on Pushing Through a Plan Most Americans Don't Want?

More in U.S. Say Health Coverage Is Not Government Responsibility

More Americans now say it is not the federal government's responsibility to make sure all Americans have healthcare coverage (50%) than say it is (47%). This is a first since Gallup began tracking this question, and a significant shift from as recently as three years ago, when two-thirds said ensuring healthcare coverage was the government's responsibility.

It's a huge shift, and the reason is simple: we can't afford this boondoggle and people are far more concerned about unemployment and the economy than they are about imposing Obamacare on the unwilling masses.

The problem is simple: Democrats want a giant plan to redistribute wealth and create a new government-dependent (read: Democrat) constituency. That's why Obama wants a smoke-and-mirrors "jobs summit after racking up a record deficit. Maybe he can switch the cards around so no one will notice the trillions his new health plan will add to the deficit.

No wonder liberals are quaking in their boots.

So Much for that "Death of Conservatism" Stuff

Conservatives maintain edge as top ideological group.

Conservatives continue to outnumber moderates and liberals in the American populace in 2009, confirming a finding that Gallup first noted in June. Forty percent of Americans describe their political views as conservative, 36% as moderate, and 20% as liberal. This marks a shift from 2005 through 2008, when moderates were tied with conservatives as the most prevalent group.

Voters Trust Republicans More

According to this poll.

For the first time in recent years, voters trust Republicans more than Democrats on all 10 key electoral issues regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports. The GOP holds double-digit advantages on five of them.

Republicans have nearly doubled their lead over Democrats on economic issues to 49% to 35%, after leading by eight points in September.

The GOP also holds a 54% to 31% advantage on national security issues and a 50% to 31% lead on the handling of the war in Iraq.

The poll shows voters giving Republicans higher marks on issues Republicans typically do well on, but neither party scores well on ethics and corruption, which should be a concern to both sides.