rssPoll: Republicans Fall to 25 Percent Approval, Most Americans Back Public Option
Thursday, October 08, 2009 at 11:13 am
- 6 Comments
One of the key storylines of the year has been the GOP’s inability to grab a real advantage from voter disappointment with President Obama and the Democrats. A new Quinnipiac Poll has only 25 percent of Americans approving of the Republican Party, the same low number approving of Republicans in Congress, and only 29 percent of Americans believing that the opposition party is acting in “good faith.” The president has a 16-point lead on health care; that’s up from a 9-point lead last month. He has inched up, only slightly, in his approval ratings on health care and the economy.
As with most measures of the president and the parties, white voters are the most willing to take the GOP’s side. Because the 2010 electorate is likely to be whiter and older than the 2008 electorate, there’s some hope for Republicans there. But not too much. Only 28 percent of whites have a favorable opinion of the GOP. Only 31 percent of whites say Republicans are making a good-faith effort on health care.
Most importantly, 56 percent of whites support “giving people the option of being covered by a government health insurance plan that would compete with private plans.” Overall, 61 percent of Americans back the “public option.” Even though a majority of Americans are squeamish about a bill that doesn’t get Republican votes, this is more grist for liberals who have argued that the Washington political class has ruled the option out too quickly.
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6 Comments
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Comment posted October 8, 2009 @ 6:18 pm
I don't understand why the 2010 electorate would be “whiter and older.” Likely older, but I thought it was getting browner. Also, you have to believe that the recent success of minority support, particularly from African Americans, would improve turnout among these communities. Hope so!
Comment posted October 8, 2009 @ 8:01 pm
The white voter thing is kind of weird.
It's like, here's what people in general think of the GOP. Now let's take out the black people and see what the people think who really matter in 2010.
Obviously you didn't mean it that way or anything close, but I think this is not a valid way to use racial data.
Comment posted October 8, 2009 @ 8:59 pm
Charlie Cook is pushing the “older, whiter” thing as is Ron Brownstein. They're both very good.
I think they base it on the fact that non-Presidential elections are lower turn out and minorities and young people are usually even lower turn out in those elections.
Comment posted October 8, 2009 @ 9:58 pm
The prevailing theory is that Obama won his presidential campaign by successfully mobilizing large groups of people who don't normally vote to head to the polls. The 2008 presidential election yielded a mucher higher voter turnout of both black voters and young voters, both demographics that are statistically more likely to vote for a democrat than a republican.
The deviation from the norm on this was immense, really, so it's a pretty safe prediction that the 2010 election will trend at least a ways back towards the average voting demographics, which would make it very accurately an “older and whiter” election.
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