Picture Courtesy of Rolling Stone
“Republicans must be giddy over the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Thanks to the BP oil spill in the gulf, the administration’s problems getting a public handle on the disaster and the stubborn economy, President Obama’s job approval rating dropped from 50 percent last month to 45 percent now. His disapproval rating is now 48 percent. To make matters worse, 60 percent of those polled say the nation is on the wrong track” according to the Washington Post.
And the news gets worse for the Democrats. “A poll just released by Resurgent Republic, an organization founded by former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie finds that–by a margin of 64 percent to 27 percent–those persons who are likely to vote in the November 2010 election think the United States is on “the wrong track,” according to U.S. News and World Report.
That U.S. News and World Report blog post goes on to state that:
The Democrats’ continued drift to the left has harmed the party’s political fortunes–in much the same way perhaps as the national Republican Party’s move to the right on social issues has caused it problems in the Northeast. But while the GOP at least remains competitive from Maine to New Jersey, the species once known as “the Southern Democrat” is all but extinct. South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas–which were once all reliably one party states that sent Democrats to Washington–flipped the other way, and quickly, after Ronald Reagan won the presidency.
What do liberals have to say about this? Here is how Mike Lux broke it down recently over at the Huffington Post:
The most disturbing poll I have seen in this election cycle (for that matter, the most disturbing since 1994) was an NPR poll from June 7-10. It was disturbing in part because it was done by Stan Greenberg — for my money as good as any Democratic pollster in the business — and not some Republican hack polling firm like Rasmussen. What it basically showed was that Democratic arguments, even relatively well framed ones, have little credibility with the majority of the likely voters in the 2010 elections. Greenberg tried four different sets of competing Democratic and Republican arguments, and the Republican arguments won each time — by 10, 12, 12, and 13 points. Not a single one of the four was even competitive. In past years, similar lines of debate have tended to favor Democrats, but not this time.
The Democrats had a chance, when Obama was elected President in 2008, to frame the debate and show us a path to a better America. Instead, Obama promptly mired us in a health care debate and he did little to restore our economy, beyond bailing out Wall St. fat cats. And he did nothing to get us out of the unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He essentially kept his Republican predecessor’s people in charge, at the Pentagon, and he stayed on the path Bush charted, and it shows.
And now the BP oil spill has become a huge disaster for the environment, and according to an article in Rolling Stone, Obama’s Interior Department paved the way for this catastrophe by letting BP get away with irresponsible policies, just as Bush’s administration did.
At this point I think the Democrats are going to lose both Houses of Congress in the mid-term election. And we may feel the repercussions of that even here, in blue California. I don’t expect Meg Whitman to win against Jerry Brown, but Carly Fiorina may indeed prevail against Barbara Boxer. And downstream of those statewide races, we may see a red stain developing in Orange County’s blue center, as both Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez and State Senator Lou Correa are facing serious, well-financed challenges from Republican candidates.
Can the Democrats turn things around between now and November? Quite frankly, I hope so. Minorities and civil rights will be set back substantially if the GOP takes over the Congress again. However, the Democrats profligate spending and bad economic and defense policies are really hurting this nation. And they have done little really, to advance civil rights for Latinos and the GLBT community.
We are quite a ways from November. But it is hard to argue that the GOP isn’t posed for a comeback. After all, the voters have always preferred a divided federal government. That is exactly what we might end up with after the general election in November.
And the Democrats are already talking about replacing Obama with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2012…
Democrats love to blast the Rasmussen Polls because they keep giving them bad news, but they’ve also proven to be very reliable. Nobody nailed 2008 better than Rasmussen. Certainly more reliable than the polling firm the lefties at DailyKos were using…and had to fire…after they kept delivering results that were very favorable to lefties, and also very wrong.
Rick,
Good point. What is scary for the Dems is that both the left and right leaning pollsters are saying the same thing – November looks to be no bueno for the blue party…
they where using the polls from the daily kooks .. in their poll nobama is doing a great job and they will gain seats in both house n senate . . they should stop watching keith overbite on mshatebc
That lying sack Correa really needs to go down. He broke his pledge to not raise taxes, and then the weasel did exactly that — cost every family (“his people” as he likes to say) $1,000 per household.
Golightly,
To be fair, a half dozen Republicans broke ranks to pass that budget, including two who are on the ballot in November – Mike Villines and Abel Maldonado. They are the ones to blame, not Correa.
Art,
Just so I’m clear – it’s ok for Democrats to break their word, but not Republicans?
Newbie.
Not speaking for Art but we have Republicans who break their promises right in our own city council chambers. Let me begin with Lance.
Larry,
Thanks.
Newbie,
Not sure what you mean. I don’t think politicians of either party should break their word. I do think that politicians do themselves a disfavor when they paint themselves into a corner. They have to maintain some flexibility.
The thrust of this post is not to malign the Democrats but to point out that their actions are leading them to a massacre in November. As I said in the post, I am not particularly happy about that, but it is coming, I think. They have a scant few months to correct the course…
Larry,
I believe anyone in public service who breaks their word should be held accountable. Lance MacLean had to account for his behavior with the recall. My problem with Art is that he is giving Correa a pass on breaking his no taxes pledge and only holding Republicans accountable (who I hope lose badly in November for being the turncoats that they are). That’s not responsible reporting, that’s simply vindictive behavior because of his history with the Republican Party.
Newbie,
Ah, I see. Not true. But the fact, which cannot be denied, is that Correa would not have been put in a position to have to break said pledge if six Republicans had not betrayed their party and their principles.
I know for a fact that Correa struggled mightily with this vote. In the end he did what he felt he had to for the betterment of the state and his district. He did in fact bring back a lot of state funds to Orange County, in the process.
Democrats tend to vote for more spending. And they tend to vote for more taxes. Republicans aren’t supposed to do either, but when they do, yes I will hammer them for it. They are supposed to be against that sort of thing. When they vote otherwise they in essense become of no use to us and should be discarded.
As for my history with the OC GOP, I worked hard to advance the Republican Party but finally grew tired of the scapegoating of Mexicans and their two-faced approach to spending and wasting tax money. I bid them adieu and have not looked back at all.
It should be noted that I am a Libertarian today and I support candidates from all the major parties. I really don’t look at their party affiliation. In the primary I did in fact endorse a few Republicans, including my friend Shawn Nelson – a real conservative who you can count on to hold the line on fiscal issues.
Art,
Another fact which you haven’t denied is that Correa broke his no taxe pledge, yet you still give him a pass. That’s my only point. I hold anyone who made the pledge in contempt because breaking your word is something I don’t sanction, friend or foe. However, you apparently give those you support a pass while holding others accountable. I have no doubt it was a tough decision for Correa, he is a Democrat after all. And from all reports, he has done well for his district. Still, he broke his pledge, and that’s wrong. As for your point about Correa being put in that position, now you’re basically saying that he only agreed to the no tax pledge because he felt the Republicans would always give him cover. That smacks of politics at its worst and means that Correa never intended to abide by the pledge in the first place, but was only planning on using it to gain points in his district. A startling statement, but very telling indeed.
The options on the budget or any budget are very limited when you experiance a 40 to 50 % cut in income or revenues over the course of 3 years.
The Voters of Garden Grove showed by a wide majority that they were will to pay higher taxes to provide improvements to schools.
If the state had not increased revenues by increased fees and taxes the money would have had to come mostly out of the budget for schools, secondly by releasing more prisoners. Cutting schools further is less popular than some increase in taxes, neither option pleases the voters.
What’s really shocking about this prediction, if true, is that after getting screwed by Republican policies such as industrial deregulation, tax cuts for the wealthy, and a love of theocracy, voters would turn to these types for what–more of that? How’s that been working for you?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2009/06/art-pedroza-makes-a-bet/
Crowley,
Yes, it looks like I am losing that bet! It will be disgusting to hear Rush and Palin crowing after November. Barf!
It is important to realize what we get for our taxes. We get public services at the local, county, state, and federal levels. These public services are police and fire, public education, social services, courts, jails, etc. look in the blue section of the phone book. We also get infrastructure including roads, water and sewer systems, parks and beaches, as well as environmental protection and preservation.
You would be hard pressed to exist a day without the use of publicly funded projects and services.