Republican Approvals Still Sinking
What in the world forced the Republican approval numbers even further down after the elections? Could it be that Palin staying in the news had a negative effect, or did Americans recoil from watching that other post-election story, about convicted criminal, Republican Ted Stevens, almost winning his seat. Corruption thy name is GOP,
I honestly didn’t think the Republican approval ratings could be worse than they were before the election. There’s no John McCain out there to drive them down. Sure, we’ve heard from Mitt and Sarah and Huckabee and Bobby Jindal since the election, but could they have caused the Republican brand to erode even further? Well, that’s what the Gallup Poll is showing. Here’s some of it from CNN:
The Republican Party has hit a new low.
Just 34 percent of Americans in a Gallup Poll released Thursday say they have a favorable view of the party, down 40 percent from a month ago, before the election.
What’s worse: 61 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of the Republican Party.
According to Gallup, that unfavorable rating is the highest the polling organization has recorded for the GOP since the measure was established in 1992.
Maybe this is a bandwagon effect. Democratic polling numbers are also higher, and they’re “basking in the glow” of those numbers, as CNN says. I suppose the real factor there is the celebration after the victory — very wholesome and appealing, and it is hard to imagine all people maintaining their hate in the face of the Obama daughters up their on stage. Still, what could be driving those Republican numbers down even further.
I’ve got it! Blame Ted Stevens! During the period the poll was taken the Stevens Senate seat was still an open question. I’m betting the notion of a convicted Senator winning his seat back, which was one of the dominant post-election stories, further damaged the Republican brand. I remember thinking that if the Republicans didn’t condemn Stevens before the election it would hurt them. Seems it just might be hurting them down, even though the proper outcome, Stevens losing, has happened.
I’m sure a lot of this is the same effect that pushed the Democratic leadership in Congress’s numbers so low over the last 2 years, and yet didn’t lead to voters kicking out their Democratic representatives. Democrats have an unfavorable opinion of Republicans because duh. Independents are mad at them because they’ve screwed the country up. And Republicans are mad at them because they’re LOSERS, and there is no bigger sin in the Republican Party than to be a LOSER.
So with no one liking what they’re doing, the numbers look terrible. I’m actually fairly certain that the lesson that the GOP will take away from this in the short term is that they need to be more conservative. That will pull back the flank of the GOP that disapproves of them right now because they’re LOSERS. That combined with the fact that once the Congress actually starts doing stuff their numbers will start to go down again (because the high approval from Democrats will go down as they start making compromises to pass legislation that piss Democrats off) will lead the GOP to believe that they’ve got the right formula and moving right is the way to go.
Bush is still screwing things up royally (the economy), his appointee Paulson is roundly condemned as screwing up management of the TARP, and that he’s quietly putting in regulations that benefit his corporate buddies to the detriment of the people of this nation.
Every candidate ran against Bush policies. He’s the worst president this nation has ever had.
I believe Bush is going down as the worst president in history and we all know that. But lets stop talking about that and lets talk about something way more important .I am a die hard Democrat and i love obama some people are questioning his appoinments but people have to understand that he is going to put the people that he thinks is going to get the job done not the people who people want .We elected him because we wanted change and i believe we are going to get it just give him time.