Poll Suggests Opportunities for Both Parties in Midterms.

[elleng]

Source: nyt

The latest New York Times/CBS News poll also finds that while voters rate the performance of Democrats negatively, they view Republicans as even worse, providing a potential opening for Democrats to make a last-ditch case for keeping their hold on power.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/16/us/politics/16poll.html?_r=1&hp

[rpannier]

1. Republicans keep electing tea baggers there'll be a lot of openings for Dems

[Patsy Stone]

2. I'm confused.

A case for Republicans: Voters are remarkably open to change, even if they are not sure where Republicans will lead them. Most Americans, including one-third of those in the coalition that elected Mr. Obama, now say he does not have a clear plan to solve the nation’s problems or create jobs. Democrats remain highly vulnerable on the economy.

A case for Democrats: They are seen as having better ideas for solving the country’s problems. The public steadfastly supports the president’s proposal to let tax cuts expire for the wealthiest Americans. And far more people still blame Wall Street and the Bush administration than blame Mr. Obama for the country’s economic problems.

Well, NYT Writers, which is it then?

Also, the article begins with the breathless announcement that "Americans are expressing widespread dissatisfaction with President Obama’s leadership."

Yet, buried on page two we get:

The president’s overall job approval rating is 45 percent, with 47 percent disapproving. On the economy, his rating is worse, with 41 percent approving and 51 percent disapproving. When asked whether Mr. Obama has a clear plan for solving the nation’s problems, 57 percent responded that he did not, yet twice as many give him more credit than Republicans for having a plan.

and

With the Democratic majority on the line, and the outcome of the election seen as a referendum on the president, 45 percent of voters said Mr. Obama would not be a factor in their vote in November, while 23 percent said their vote would be for Mr. Obama and 25 percent said it would be against him.

Widespread what? Nope, no agenda here. Move along.

[DallasNE]

3. I'm Confused Too

About the only trend I could see is that there are a lot of cross-currents out there. The conclusions look suspect as these cross-currents should be balancing out far more than the claims suggest. There are a couple of important votes coming up in Congress. Those should help with the idea that Obama hasn't done enough. (The interesting thing about that claim is that the Republicans want to roll back the entire Obama agenda --- another cross-current).

With a coherent message this doesn't have to be a Waterloo year for Democrats. Citizens United induced spending could drown out the message but Democrats should have enough financial assets to get their message across.