Two polls find America in a sour political mood
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Two polls released today show that America’s mood is turning as dark as a black hole in space, and that likely means a dour event horizon for incumbents.
It’s not unusual for support to erode as a new administration is forced to deal with the difference between the adrenaline high of campaigning compared with the prosaic problems of governing. This was probably exacerbated by the wave of hope that President Obama and fellow Democrats rode into the White House and control of government.
But the numbers tell a cautionary tale as the nation continues to grapple with domestic and foreign policy problems ahead of the 2010 midterm elections.
In its latest survey, the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that two-thirds of the public says it is dissatisfied with the way things are going. About 90% say national economic conditions are not more optimistic than fair and a hefty majority, two-thirds, say their personal finances are poor or fair. More Americans now say the Afghanistan war is not going well, while a plurality say they oppose healthcare reforms pending in Congress.
A second poll, conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media for the Associated Press, is just as gloomy overall. About 56% of those surveyed said they believed the country was heading in the wrong direction, up from 51% last month. The number of people who question Obama’s handling of the Iraq war rose from 37% last month to 45%; 48% disapprove of his handling of the Afghanistan war, up from 41%.
Despite the dreary views of public problems, Obama continued to hold on to a majority of popular support. The Pew poll found the president has a 51% approval rating, while the AP-GfK poll placed him at 54%.
Congress did not fare as well.
According to the Pew poll, 52% of registered voters would like to see their own representative reelected next year, while 34% say that most members of Congress should be reelected.
“Both measures are among the most negative in two decades of Pew Research surveys. Other low points were during the 1994 and 2006 election cycles, when the party in power suffered large losses in midterm elections,” according to Pew.
The AP poll found only a third approved of how Congress was doing its job.
For the full Pew report,
For details on the AP-GfK poll
Republicans pass Democrats: Swing ‘09, see the Swamp:
— Michael Muskal
