A new poll was released today by NBC/Wall Street Journal. While the media will focus on the President’s disapproval ratings showing as an all-time high in this poll (54%), the real story here is that, for the most part, this poll shows that the American people are still rejecting the Republican Party and its ideals, while showing more confidence in Democrats to lead on a number of issues.
When it comes to approval ratings, President Obama’s rating ticked up to 43%, up one point from NBC’s previous poll over a month ago and on par with where he had been over the summer. It is also roughly the same as it was two years ago at this time. Meanwhile, when asked to rate the performance of this year’s Congress, 51% said that this was one of the worst in history. Another 28% said it was below average. Combined, 79% of people polled said this Congress did a bad job this year. This is unprecedented for this poll, as the combined number has never been that high. Also, this is the first time a majority of people said it was one of the worst.
As for favorable ratings, the President had a net negative of 4%, as 42% view him favorably and 46% view him negatively. Meanwhile, the Republican Party came away with a net negative of 25%, with a majority of the people polled (51%) viewing the GOP negatively compared to only 26% seeing them in a positive light. The Tea Party didn’t fare much better as they had a net negative of 21% with only 24% having a favorable view of them. Democrats were also in the net negative (8%), but still viewed far more favorably than the GOP or Tea Party.
Another thing that will inevitably spun as a negative for this President but should actually show improvement overall is the direction people think the country is heading in. While a large majority of people still think the country is heading in the wrong direction (64%), this is a noticeable improvement from the past two polls. When asked this question during the shutdown, only 14% felt it was headed in the right direction. The next month, it was up to 22%. Now it is at 29%. It shows that there is a bit of hope building up among people.
To that degree, the poll showed that the public feels that the economy is getting better and that it should continue to improve. 29% feel that the economy will get better over the next twelve months compared to 24% saying it will get worse. 46% feel it will stay the same. The prior two polls showed a large net negative on this question. Also, 63% of people responded that they were at least somewhat satisfied with their personal financial situation, up 8% from the most recent poll and the highest it had been since December 2007.
Another thing the media will point to when looking at this poll is how people viewed the ACA. In regards to that, only 34% viewed it favorably compared to 50% negatively. However, on another question, 44% of people said they were very satisfied with their health care coverage, which was an improvement of 13% when that was asked in September, right before the rollout. Overall, 80% of people said they were somewhat satisfied with their coverage. This should tell us that while the public may be influenced by the media’s coverage of the ‘botched’ rollout and the cancellation of junk policies, when not asked to think about the politics of it, they are seeing improvement in their coverage and overall medical care.
Yet another item that doesn’t forecast very well for the GOP is the public’s view of the federal minimum wage. When asked if it should be bumped up to $10.10 an hour, a vast majority (63%) were in favor of it. Republican lawmakers have been trying to make the case that the minimum wage should not be raised as it will hurt businesses and the overall economy. Obviously, the message is not resonating with the majority of Americans.
An interesting section of the poll was where people were asked which party they trusted more to handle certain issues. The Democrats held the advantage on nearly every question asked. They had a huge advantage (28%) when asked who has more compassion and concern for people. They also held an advantage on immigration (5%), health care (6%) and having new ideas (8%). For some reason, Republicans had the edge in the economy (10%), which is a head-scratcher due to their obstructionist ways and shutting down of the government. However, it could be somewhat understandable due to their opposition to Obamacare being based, at least rhetorically, on the economy and jobs.
In the end, we know that the mainstream media will hammer home the high disapproval rating of the President and the ACA when discussing this poll, while almost entirely ignoring the huge negatives for the GOP. And, that is probably why, while this poll shows tons of negatives for the Republicans, they actually have a small lead in a generic Congressional vote, 44-42. Obviously, when asked specifically about their thoughts on a number of subjects, people will point out how pathetic the Republican Party is and how they view them. However, due to consistent negative coverage of the President and the health care law, many still instinctively state they’ll vote Republican. Thank you, MSM. You are doing your job!
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