New Poll & Breakdown -- Republicans Bombed re: War, Healthcare, Economy, Terrorism....

Posted by The Crux |  Republican politicians have been harping on Congress' falling approval ratings, implying that Americans don't like Congress since the Democrats gained control in January. In fact, congressional Republicans have far lower approval ratings than Democrats. 

Given the recent polling data, Republicans should stop speciously pointing fingers and start asking: 1) why do most Americans view us negatively, and 2) what can we actually do to change that?

Last week's Gallup poll found that more American's trusted Democrats over Republicans re: national security, prosperity, and overall (BN-Politics). The new Washington Post/ABC poll results are equally bad news for Republicans.

True, Congress hasn't accomplished much since January (16% think Congress has done well) -- but most Americans blame Republicans. That's not surprising, because Senate Republicans have blocked problem-solving legislation through filibusters and Bush has threatened vetoes. 

Below are tidy tables of some WaPo/ABC poll results, addressing various issues....

Given the percentages below, it appears that Americans do distinguish between Democrats and Republicans in federal office:

Congress's Approval Rating                                 29%

Approve of Rs in Congress                                   29%

Approve of Ds in Congress                                   38%

Blame Ds for Congress's inaction                        25%

Blame Ds & Rs for Congress's inaction              20%

Blame President & Rs for Congress' inaction    51%

Bush's Approval Rating                                        33%

(poll results, questions 4 & 1)

Below is the breakdown of people who responded favorably to one party when asked which party's politicians would do a better job on the following issues:

                                  Democrats                 Republicans

Healthcare                      56%                           26%

Iraq War                         49%                           34%

Terrorism                        41%                           40%

Economy                          51%                           33%

Budget Deficit                 52%                           29%

(See poll results, question 8)

About whether Congress should approve President Bush's request for another $190 billion in war funding for the coming year, reactions were as follows:

Give full funding                         27%

Reduce the amount                    67%          

Sharply reduce the amount        43%    

Give no funding at all                   3%

(See poll results, question 15)

Given that the Iraq war weighs heavily on voters' minds, Republican presidential candidates also got bad news. When asked whether they felt a Republican or Democratic president would do better at handling Iraq, 51% favored a Democrat and 31% favored a Republican (question 16).

About increasing funding for the State Children's Healthcare Program (SCHIPS) by $35 billion  -- which the president and a few Republicans oppose -- 72% want the increase and 25% don't (question 9).  On this issue, according to WaPo's article, increased SCHIPS funding has strong bipartisan support from 61% of Republicans, 69% of Independents, and 81% of Democrats. Wow, something they agree on.

Apparently, resisting the urge to spin and instead cooperating with Dems to solve national problems could improve Republican politicians' chances for re-election in 2008.  Besides, it's what we taxpayers pay them to do.

Oliver Willis had some inspirational words for congressional Dems:

"Considering the history, parity on terrorism is essentially a win for the Democrats, something the GOP has usually dominated Democrats on. The mandate from America is as clear as glass, if the Democrats started acting like how the people want them to act, we would get some stuff done. Grow a pair, folks."

The Body Politik's commented:

"Despite the administration’s well-oiled pro-sure public relations campaign, the public isn’t biting. While Congress is busy condemning MoveOn.org and Rush Limbaugh, a sizable majority of Americans are demanding an end to the war."

Rhetoric & Rhythm summed it up as well as anyone:

"I wouldn’t want to be a Republican running for election in 2008 if the war in Iraq is still going on."