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The Spectacle Blog
As Americans return to work after the Labor Day weekend, a new Washington Post/ABC News poll reveals that Democrats still appear to be in deep trouble, with Republicans opening up a 13-point lead on the generic ballot.
In addition, 92 percent of Americans think the economy is in bad shape, and now more Americans think President Obama’s economic policies have hurt rather than helped the economy. Overall, a majority of 52 percent disapprove of his job performance.
The poll also found that 78 percent say they are disfatisfied with the way the federal government is working, which is the highest measure since October 1992, right before Bill Clinton beat George Bush in the presidential election.
The fundamentals, in other words, continue to be terrible for Democrats, and now that we’re into September, there really isn’t much time to turnaround these basic perceptions.
View all comments (14) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Philip Klein
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/09/07/polls-continute-to-be-grim-for
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Eric Cartman| 9.7.10 @ 9:44AM
It goes to the inherent ignorance of a majority of the American people that it took this long to realize that spending billions on "shovel ready" programs wouldn't work - that the only shovel ready job was the pig flop pile the the Democrats were going to shovel at the voter.
And with their own pig-flop shoveling past lurking just behind them, the Republicans couldn't utter a word with out sounding like sour grapes. They couldn't take a lesson from the Gipper and speak truthfully and directly to the American people - over the media. Instead we get George "Mumbles" Bush playing footsie with Teddy *hic* Kennedy and pulling huge drug programs for the oldsters out of his ass. Great.
And as the once proud and mighty ship of the United States pulls into Detroit's dock to take its rightful place next to the Democrat created economic rubble where even rats will no longer live, I wave a teary goodbye on my way to the Philippines to enjoy nice people, beautiful women, pristine beaches and a much higher living standard than here thanks to the Demopublicans handling of a once vibrant economy. You all may want to join me - the dismantling of this nation by its criminal class (politicians) ain't gunna be pretty.
TennesseeVolunteer| 9.7.10 @ 10:05AM
Eric, your predictions of our demise are way too soon. It may take the rest of my working life to see the turnaround but this is my home, these are my people and I learned long ago, at great personal expense, that you don't quit because things get
hard. We will welcome you back with open arms when we turn this ship around and are going full speed in 2013.
Grzmlyk| 9.7.10 @ 11:46AM
TennesseeVolunteer, I wish you were right, but time and again our political class has shown it knows only two things: Spending money to solidify power and bringing home the pork. Eric is correct that it's just about as bad on the GOP side as the Democrat side.
How long did it take for the Contract with America to fall apart? The last vestige of that "turnaround" was welfare reform, which of course has been reversed by the liberals.
No trace of that "revolution," or Bill Clinton's acquiescence to it - crystallized by his phrase, "the era of big government is over" - remains today, scarcely 16 years later.
America's electorate has, during the "modern" era of instant media, careened back and forth between left and right in its voting behavior - however, the swings back to the right never go as far as those to the left, resulting and an ever widening leftward drift ever since JFK, with one brief brake on the system by Ronald Reagan.
But the momentum toward the left continues now pretty much unabated, and any attempts to hold back the tide by the right are like trying to hold back the sea with a soup spoon.
Money is to Washington DC what water is to fish, and even if we cast sincere new Tea Party-friendly candidates into the Beltway, their desire to limit government is the first casualty of their new perspective inside the fishbowl. If spending $1 billion on a useless project is "good" in 2010, you can bet that the pols will insist atht spending $2 billion in 2011 is necessary - or you're a racist/bigot/homophobe/insensitive.
Like a glutton who cannot stop eating until he literally kills himself, America's nanny statism will not stop until the country collapses.
The good news, I suppose, is that the foundation has already rotted through, and the collapse is now inevitable.
Stan Redmond| 9.7.10 @ 10:24AM
Obviously the American public is in a bad mood. Obama just hasn't gotten his "it's Bush's fault" message out enough. If only every American had heard how everything bad was Bush's fault Obama and the dems would be at 100% approval.
MX44| 9.7.10 @ 11:00AM
What do you mean? Didn't you hear Obama's throwing another $40Billion into some union construction jobs? The "summer of recovery"
isn't dead yet!!!
Grzmlyk| 9.7.10 @ 11:56AM
Yes, the "summer of recovery" is about to give way to the "autumn of delusion," followed by the "winter of total collapse."
But none of that matters. What matters is that liberals voted for a totally unqualified black dude because he is black.
How cool are they?
Pete| 9.7.10 @ 11:12AM
I heard he is going commission a census of squirrels (after creating a permanent government panel to administer the program)...it would take a ton of temporary workers to do that.
Ace| 9.7.10 @ 11:27AM
Lot of dead registered voters out there, dems still have hope.
Nate| 9.7.10 @ 6:10PM
Obama's approval ratings are higher than Reagan's or Clinton's at this point in their respective presidencies.
Given that Obama is president during a terrible recession -- probably the worst since the Great Depression -- and given that our soldiers continue to fight in two countries long after most Americans thought they'd be there, and given that Obama is being systematically demonized beyond all reasonable journalistic decorum by 24x7 cable "news" and talk radio shows, and given that after 8 years of letting industry and banks regulate and oversee themselves we're experiencing a number of unprecedented crises in the economy in addition to the recession, I'd say Obama is holding his own.
One thing Klein repeatedly fails to point out is that many of the negative numbers afflicting the Democrats are as high as they are because democrats themselves are dissatisfied with the anemic attempts to put liberal policies into action.
For example, the health care bill enjoys far less popularity than it might otherwise enjoy because so many democrats wanted there to be a public option in it. (Polls in favor of the public option regularly showed over 50% of people favoring it.)
Anyway --
These polls are a mugs game. It seems certain the democrats will suffer huge losses. Reagan did in his first midterm; Clinton did in his. Bush might have, been his first midterm came only a year after 9.11 when he was very popular -- understandably -- among Americans and when we were all willing to do a little rallying around the flag.
So celebrate your winnings!
And remember all those times you people warned us that Obama was a fascist Maoist illegal alien dictator!
It certainly doesn't appear that he is, although I'm sure Glenn Beck will get another message from God soon enough explaining how I've got it all wrong.
Nick| 9.7.10 @ 6:42PM
Nate the dazi,
Try and remember how you felt in November of '08, or on Janurary 20th, 2009.
You will never feel that way again!
Nate| 9.7.10 @ 10:07PM
Nick,
How I "felt" in November 08? I didn't really "feel" all that much, to tell you the truth.
The reason for this is I'm not an ideological bigot. That is to say, I don't derive self-worth or a sense of identity from this or that political faction.
I am a liberal democrat, but that's one of the less important things about me.
As for never enjoying a democratic victory again?
Nick, you occasionally sound like a intelligent enough fellow, and I'm assuming you have some knowledge of American political history.
These things go in cycles. This cycle the Republicans are virtually guaranteed a win. The American public swings -- not violently, but not gently -- back and forth. Midterms very often penalize the party in power, whether it's Republicans or Democrats. This cycle appears to be favoring a very bad loss for Democrats, chiefly because Democrats are not very motivated to vote. (Anger gets people to polls quicker than tepid, qualified, reserved and shrugging approval.)
Reagan was much lower in the polls at this point in his presidency. He had 11% unemployment. (I suppose you'd probably blame that on Carter the way Democrats today blame the unemployment on Bush. Unfortunately for all of you, reality is much more complicated, and presidents can do much less about unemployment than we'd all like to believe.)
But enjoy the victory.
And remember. We live in a FREE COUNTRY. No FEMA camps, no fascist dictators. Be GRATEFUL for the blessings of liberty and the right of the people to ELECT those by whom they will be governed.
Nick| 9.7.10 @ 11:38PM
Nate,
I surely do not thank the Lord as often as I should that I live in this great country. But, I am very greatful for all of the blessings our nation affords.
The feeling I was referring to was that of liberals thinking they were going to get to pass every piece of legislation that had failed to pass under the Raw Deal and Not So Great Society.
You guys did have a filibuster-proof Senate and a 40+ majority in the House, along with the most left-wing president since the Polio Prince. You squandered it, and will never have that kind of advantage again in your, or my, lifetime.
Thank O'Bama for me, would 'ya?
Tim*| 9.7.10 @ 6:32PM
Larry J. Sabato, Director, U.Va. Center for Politics :
"Given what we can see at this moment, Republicans have a good chance to win the House by picking up as many as 47 seats, net."
In the Senate, we now believe the GOP will do a bit better than our long-time prediction of +7 seats. Republicans have an outside shot at winning full control (+10)."
Tim*| 9.7.10 @ 8:50PM
Larry J. Sabato, Director, U.Va. Center for Politics :
"Given what we can see at this moment, Republicans have a good chance to win the House by picking up as many as 47 seats, net."
In the Senate, we now believe the GOP will do a bit better than our long-time prediction of +7 seats. Republicans have an outside shot at winning full control (+10)."