CNN: Nearly 60% Favor One Party Control
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Democrats, Polls, Republicans
This one’s pretty shocking, and runs contrary to what we’ve heard Republicans saying over the past election cycle.
Still, maybe people think that the Dems can’t possible screw it up as badly as the Repubs did? Maybe they’re thinking that Dems will learn from Repubs mistakes?
Are expectations too high?
In the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Tuesday, 59 percent of those questioned said Democratic control of both the executive and legislative branches will be good for the country, compared with 38 percent saying such one-party control will be bad.“That much good will from the public opens a window of opportunity for the Democrats,” said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “But the public expects results, and may not listen to excuses for very long if a Democratic Congress and a Democratic White House can’t get their act together in time.”
Not only that, the public opinion of Dems is higher than the Repubs…
The poll also indicates that the public has a positive view of the Democratic Party, with 62 percent saying they have a favorable opinion and 31 percent an unfavorable opinion of the party. For the Republicans, a majority, 54 percent, said they have an unfavorable view of the GOP while 38 percent hold a positive view.“The public has a positive view of the Democratic Party while the GOP ‘brand’ is hurting,” Holland said. “Overall views of the Democratic Party have gone from 53 percent favorable in October to 62 percent favorable now; the GOP overall has seen a 5-point drop in its favorable rating.”
The 62 percent figure is the “the highest opinion of the Democrats in at least 16 years, since before Bill Clinton got elected,” said CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider.
The way they’ll squander this good will is by fighting, being disrespectful and not keeping in mind the unity and hope message that Obama ran and won on.
And to that point…
But that doesn’t mean the public wants to see the GOP shut out of government. Seven out of eight want the Democrats to include Republican views in any legislation they pass.
But if Dems can harness this good will to create bi-partisanship within the halls of power, well, you could be looking at Democratic rule for a lot longer than previously expected.
We shall see…
This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, Democrats, Polls, Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 11th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
This is a mark of trust in Obama, not the Dems in Congress. There is faith that he (and Rahm) will keep them on track and won’t let them f*** up. We have faith in the steward, not necessarily the grunts.
November 11th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
I would love to see heated political debate occur – but it has become obvious to a majority of Americans that the Republican party sorely lacks new ideas. They have played the Ronald Reagan, culture war, fear and loathing schtick for so long it’s painfully obvious they have no ideas, and haven’t for some time. I’m reminded of a family I knew where the father was a serious alcoholic, the mother and children were terrified all the time, but that was the only reality they knew. It was only when the veil of his influence was removed that they were able to see things as they truly were – and make steps to change. When he came back many months later, they had moved on and no longer had any use for his disfunction. A decade in the political wilderness is the only thing that will fix the Republican Party. Maybe this is a good time for the secular, science believing, practical, realists that are members of that party to start a new one. Leave the Republican tent to the evangelists, the racists, the fearful, and the anti-intellectual.
November 11th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
They may favor one party control, but I don’t think they’d like one party rule that much. We need a strong second party for this country to work the way it’s supposed to.
November 11th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
We do need a strong second party. Historically, split power in D.C. has produced an average 9 percent positive return for stocks vs. a negative 8 percent when one party holds Congress and the White House. That is reason enough for me.
November 11th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
It was not all that long ago when pundits were talking about a permanent Republican majority in Congress. It wasn’t that long before that when the Republicans didn’t have a majority in Congress. Things change.
It’s really all about who can claim and hold the center. Republicans gained control and couldn’t resist the urge to veer to the right. If the Democrats make the same mistake by veering to the left over the next 4 years, the Republicans will be back in favor in 2012.
November 12th, 2008 at 12:59 am
Poll Shows Strong Public Support for Incoming Democratic Government…
by Damozel Nicholas | If you looked at some of the right-wing blogs I read for laughs you’d never know this, but it seems that a large number of Americans are relieved to find the government in the control of the Democratic party—at least according …