A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll covers quite a bit of ground, with toplines that show President Obama's support holding steady, Congress' popularity scraping the bottom of the barrel, and support for stricter gun laws reaching its highest level in more than six years.
But looking through the internals (pdf) of the poll, I'm once again struck by how deeply unpopular Republicans have become. I put together this chart pointing to favorability ratings throughout 2012 for President Obama, the Democratic Party, and the Republican Party.
The percentage of Americans who have a "very favorable" view of the Republican Party? Six. Ouch. This probably isn't how GOP leaders hoped to kick off the new year and the new Congress.
What's more, if Republicans proceed in the coming months to hold the debt ceiling hostage, threaten a government shutdown, and reject popular measures on preventing gun violence while casually talking up presidential impeachment, there's no reason to think the party's standing can't deteriorate further.
I suspect some Republicans assume that everyone in Washington is unpopular right now, with a climate in which many Americans are frustrated and annoyed with political gridlock and acrimony. But that's why polls like this are important -- they make clear that public attitudes are more focused, and it's one party in particular that's drawing Americans' ire.
It's tempting to think results like these would give GOP officials pause, and encourage them to be more constructive and less opposed to compromise, but that still seems unlikely.
Also, just as an side, the poll also asked respondents which is "the most positive accomplishment" from the Obama administration's first term. The number one answer was "bringing all the troops home from Iraq," followed by "killing Osama bin Laden."
The conventional wisdom holds Americans just don't give a lot of thought to foreign policy and national security, but occasionally, there's meaningful evidence to the contrary.
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Sometimes CW, manufactured as it is over drinks at salons inside the beltway, isn't very wise.
Obama handily survived what CW said should have been a giant defeat because he paid close attention to who the American people really are and what they were actually thinking.
The lesson of the last election has to be that journalists and lawmakers need to get out more.
But, isn't that the lesson of every election?
"It's tempting to think results like these would give GOP officials pause,..."
Not really, the GOTP have their own corporate controlled media bubble and that is where they and their sheeple faithful live. While this chart looks good, the proof will be at the ballot box in 2014 & whether or not they get removed from office. I get that the GOTP have redistricted to secure their seats, but I also know that WE the people must mobilize, get better candidates for office, and turn out to vote for them. We need to stop this gerrymandering of the electorate, and WE need politicians whose primary obligation is to work for the 95% of Americans, instead of the corporate owned selfish stooges that currently occupy politics!
WE need real reform and that will only happen when we come together as a people and honestly admit that WE have more in common, WE are a society in this together, and "our politicians" aren't really working for the good of US or this nation but the corporatocracy!
I think Shingles polls higher than 6%...
Well, gonorrhea polled at 28% to Republican's 15% in the PPP preference poll.
It doesn't matter how unpopular "Republicans" are as long as they have safe districts where the Democrats are even less popular. Especially if they have good election engineers working for places like Heritage.
The republican leaders really don't care about people who aren't going to vote for them anyhow. They have, as you mentioned, their safe seats and the only people they care about are the voters in those districts along with the people who control the moneybags that finance their campaigns and their lifestyle. Polls of voters in general they ignore, but when their districts start showing the same results, I bet that then they will react.
Is support also up for Al Qaeda? It won't be long until they cross our unprotected border from Mexico and start holding families hostage.
Yeah Jose, that Albert Qaeda fella does not dig on families. Since his mommy cut his allowance by a nickel, he has been quite unhappy...
Wow, you completely win the prize for Dumbest Fooking Republican Post of the Day, hands down. Congratulations, you drooling moron.
Do you really think that good catholic Mexicans will allow al Qaeda to operate in the country? Even the cartels pay tribute to la Santa Muerte and la Virgen. They aren't about to let al Qaeda into Mexico. But you knew that already, didn't you? It's just that holding two thoughts at the same time is beyond your capacity, no?
You also surely remember that the only cases of post 9/11 infiltration of Islamic terrorism came through the Canadian border, don't you?
What TC said.
Did anyone actually "read" the poll? There is a lot of bending in the questions and the interpretation.
Well, we know you didn't, since your other posts prove you can't.
You may want to read this article on the Geography of US Gun Violence. Has maps also showing distribution of gun violence. Lots of detail.
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2012/12/geography-us-gun-violence/4171/
I am curious why, instead of comparing laws of gun responsibility to driver's responsibility, why isn't anyone comparing how the access and legality of obtaining assault weapons compares to the access and legality of obtaining TNT or other explosive materials? They seem more similar than driving a car, under the influence or otherwise.
I would love to see some counter research to gun violence. 12K Dead a year is an actual problem. Gun violence is more of a threat to American Lives than terrorism.
There is zero data on the internet of crimes stopped by the use of guns. My gun owning friends talk of needing to protect their homes and family, and when I press "Protect from what" they say intrusion. Is there any data anywhere that shows how many people stopped a criminal act by pulling out their gun. If 50 thousand home invasions are successfully stopped each year, the gun rights folks would have a case. My gut tells me that number is in the 100s not thousands.
A lot of discussion on the policies, but not a lot of facts on the use of guns in a positive way. Any help would be appreciated.
Ir would be nice to have the data you seek along with a lot of other data. However, you might want to check out Jon Stewart's take on the ATF and gun use control. It seems that a sitting representative added an amendment that prevents the government from keeping most of the data involving guns, their sale and their use.
I agree - there is not enough information about crimes and what stops them and what doesn't. i am glad that there will be research done now with this new focus on gun control.
I find it interesting that responsibility around gun use is compared with driving a car --I think a better comparison to assault weapons would be explosives --they both can kill many people at one time and both should be made illegible for average people.