High marks for Democrats in new Washington Post poll

[DeepModem Mom]

Confidence in Bush Leadership Continues to Drop, Poll Finds

....House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) draws much more favorable marks than the president. A majority (54 percent) approves of the way she is handling her new job, with 25 percent disapproving and 21 percent undecided. That rating is better than former House speaker Newt Gingrich's (R-Ga.) when he took power after the 1994 Republican landslide. In late January 1995, his approval rating stood at 40 percent.

Democrats generally receive positive marks from the public, at least relative to the president. By better than 2-1 (57 percent to 25 percent), Americans prefer Democrats to set the direction for the country. And by similar margins, the public trusts Democrats in Congress over Bush to deal not only with Iraq, but also with terrorism, the economy and the federal budget.

Immediately after Bush's nationally televised speech outlining his new plan for Iraq, the Democrats' advantage on how to handle that conflict narrowed to an 11-point margin. But the margin has increased again in the intervening period.

These Democratic advantages contribute to the public's assessment that Democrats in Congress are taking the stronger leadership role in Washington these days-- a position taken by 56 percent of respondents. Thirty six percent of respondents said Bush was taking the stronger leadership role.

Another reason for this divide may be the Democrats' early pursuit of broadly popular legislation. Nearly nine in 10 Americans in this poll support raising the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour (half of supporters would like it higher still), eight in 10 think Medicare should be able to negotiate prescription prices with drug companies and a majority, 55 percent, supports a loosening of restrictions of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. These were three of the six core components of Democrats' "100 Hour Legislation."...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/22/AR2007012200236_2.html?nav=hcmodule

[rodeodance]

1. go Dems go but don't let it go to your Heads!