Poll: Majority Doesn’t Want Obama To Be Bipartisan
You routinely hear it asserted that the public wants bipartisan comity in Washington, but some striking numbers buried in the internals of the new New York Times poll find that in the current context, precisely the opposite is true:
Which do you think should be a higher priority for Barack Obama right now — working in a bipartisan way with Republicans in Congress or sticking to the policies he promised he would during the campaign:
Working bipartisan way: 39%
Sticking to policies: 56%
So a sizable majority wants Obama to pursue his policies with our without Republican support. Meanwhile, a huge majority says that Republicans should emphasize working with Obama in a bipartisan way over pursuing their policy ideas:
Which do you think should be a higher priority for Republicans in Congress right now — working in a bipartisan way with Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress or sticking to Republican policies?
Working bipartisan way: 79%
Sticking to policies: 17%
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen poll numbers suggest this clearly that the public has no interest in bipartisanship for its own sake. The public doesn’t seem to care about the preoccupations of process-obsessed Beltway pundits, and seems to be looking at the “bipartisanship” question through the prism of what they want their leaders to accomplish in policy terms.
The only bipartisanship majorities want is for Republicans to help Obama realize his policies. Though the poll also shows some skepticism as to whether Obama’s policies will work in the long term, the above numbers would seem to constitute one of the most striking endorsements of the President and his agenda that we’ve seen yet.
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This could be a major problem to Republicans who think their “Zero goal” strategy is a long term winner. If the economy improves, they will try to claim it was merely cyclical, but Obama will be given credit by most people. If things continue to go badly, the Republican counterfactual utopia will be seen as a pipe dream. I think the Rep strategy is actually to merely build up cynicism. When people conclude “They’re all crooks or incompetent”, Dems tend to stay home, while Reps don’t.
agreed, I think this illustrates how risky the GOP strategy is.
That’s truly astounding. The 17% figure particularly – which gives a pretty clear picture of what Americans presently think about Republican policies/governance (”newtism, in short).
This points to a really significant advantage for Obama right now. With that level of distain for Republican ideology, he will be able to make big strides away from what has been and be cheered broadly and loudly for that, almost independent of what he proposes or does. Pretty ideal, politically speaking.
But it also points up, as we discussed earlier, a danger inherent in people placing that much hope and trust in a leader. And giving people what they want in this situation (mainly economic turn-around and optimism most acutely, I think) is going to be bloody tough and it won’t be quick enough for most, I expect.
Bipartisanship for its own sake is an invention of David Broder and his pals and has very little to do with how Americans actually think about politics.
Maybe I’m not getting something, but the response to these poll questions seems to be about getting something done right now. I don’t see bipartisanship as more than a red herring here.
That bipartisanship is a red herring is the whole point.
I’m not sure I agree with you fellas (or fellowettes). What it seems clear people don’t want (particularly now) is for politicians to advance partisan goals ahead of broader good-for-everyone goals. Perhaps “non-partisan” would be more accurate than “bipartisan” but they do mean pretty much the same thing and there seems no doubt that Obama’s successful election and these subsequent polls are an expression of the electorate wanting precisely such a conception of governance to be realized. “Getting something done right now” is the point but partisanship (of the sort Cantor and team are guilty of) is validly perceived as a/the impediment to getting things done.
This morning, Andrew Sullivan quotes Ezra Klein quoting Ryan Lizza:
“[Emanuel's] task has been made no easier by Obama’s desire for bipartisanship, which Emanuel argues the press has misunderstood. “The public wants bipartisanship,” he said. “We just have to try. We don’t have to succeed.”’
I think all of that is exactly correct.
I think a lot of this works better if we switch out bipartisan, which rankles so many, for Bernie’s non-partisan. Majorities are not about being ideological now, but about wanting solutions and looking to Obama for them.
AllButCertain
Yes, I think in a sense this is really a semantic matter that fogs up how we might best think about these things.
Ed Kilgore at Dem Strategist has a thoughtful piece on what we are talking about here too (See “refining the center” http://www.thedemocraticstrategist.org/
How is everyone missing the obvious here? Take another look at the poll question and notice the way it’s worded: in question #1, the implication is that for Obama to work in a bipartisan way means he NECESSARILY can not “stick to his policies”. It’s like if it was worded “what’s more important – working with republicans or actually getting something done?” Perhaps Obama is smart enough to find a way to do both, though this pollster is NOT smart enough to realize such a possibility, and therefore has a very slanted poll. What’s striking to me is that even though it was worded that way, almost FORTY percent still said “working together” was the more important thing! I think it’s a good representation that there is still a little “United” in the states of America!
The sampling rate for the poll was 36% Democrats to 26% GOP. Considering that most liberals don’t want anything to do with bipartisanship, these results are expected. Correct the sampling rate and the numbers will likely better represent the real mood of America.
I am tired of hearing Republicans whine about not having any say…when they had the majority the Dems had no say whatsoever but now that the shoe is on the other foot all they do is whine…well may I have some cheese with my wine please? Let them whine, and the Dems dine…it is high time for some change!
@bruman,
Brush up on your short term history. When Bush was prez and the GOP controlled both houses of Congress, the Democrats “whined” and engaged in the same obstructionist tactics the GOP is engaging in today. Its nothing new except to newcomers to US politics.
If you want to brush up on your long term history, the minority party has been engaging in those type of parliamentary tactics going back to 1787. Imagine that.
Bernie, thanks for the Kilgore link. It’s more than interesting on Obama pushing for realignment. John, I agree about the either/or nature of the question’s wording in a situation that shouldn’t have working in a bipartisan manner and sticking to policy being mutually exclusive. (Maybe we should limit the conclusions we draw when something requires so much parsing?) And Tom, do you have a poll on liberal sentiment on bipartisanship? I’m also wondering who qualifies as a liberal.
@allbutcertain
I’m just echoing the sentiments at blogs like DailyKos and ThinkProgress, etc. Substitute “progressives” for “liberals” if you like.
For those interested, a good piece from Lakoff at Nate’s site:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/
On the polling, here’s Eric Kleefeld’s take:
“Polls Suggest People Like Bipartisanship – Just Not Right Now
…As with many seeming variations in the polls, this comes down to how the question is asked. People like bipartisanship as an ideal, no doubt about it. But when faced with the facts of these specific politicians, pitting the popular Obama against the unpopular Republicans, the verdict is very clear.” http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/02/polls-suggest-people-like-bipartisanship—-just-not-right-now.php
(smart bugge, Eric)
@Tom
The 26/36 thing is irrelevant. This is not a poll about what Republicans think vs what Democrats, think, it’s about what Americans think. The random sampling is of Americans, the fact is that more Americans identify as Democrats than Republicans right now. This survey is still a valid indicator of what the population of America thinks.
By the way, more people identified themselves as conservatives than as liberals in the same poll, as you probably noticed.
Glenn Greenwald tackled this topic this morning. “By a 17 point-margin, Americans think it’s more important that Obama “stick to his policies” than try to dilute them in order to attract Republican support in pursuit of “bipartisanship.”"
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/02/24/bipartisanship/index.html
That Americans want bipartisanship is a myth.
The Lakoff piece, though a bit jargon-y, seems to really, really get what Obama is about in all this. Thanks for the link, Bernie. In terms of liberalism (or progessivism), I’ve been a liberal by any measure I can think of for my entire life–decades and decades–but I’ve never equated it with always assuming a given policy position puts me on the high moral ground, or with being stupid. As Lakoff suggests, liberals have a lot of reclaiming to do when it comes to message. We need to rethink what we’re doing in a way that means we’re able to get important things done, and that includes not having a meltdown when we hear the word bipartisanship. Lakoff is interesting on what Obama means by it.
@mason
In polling conservatives have always outnumbered liberals for a long time now. The thing is, blacks and Latinos who vote Democrat get counted as conservatives when polling.
BTW how many of you are ignoring the poorly worded second part of the question “or sticking to the policies he promised he would during the campaign”?
Obama never offered much if any substantive policies during the campaign. He got elected by criticizing “the failed policies of George Bush” over and over again without offering much details on what he would do different. On a side note, it is funny to see Obama retain almost all of Bush’s “failed policies” relating to the war on terror.
Back on topic. One thing Obama did promise though was to end the partisan bickering in Washington that has been the norm since Clinton was elected in 1992. So far he has failed to keep that promise.
BTW the best way to word the original poll question and get a legit response is as follows:
Which do you think should be a higher priority for Barack Obama right now — working in a bipartisan way with Republicans in Congress or working in a partisan way with Democrats only?
It’s time for all you REPUKE GOPers to bend over and grab your ankles! It’s time for your morning “terrorist fist jab” then you can just fade away! you have screwed for the last 8 years, now it’s your turn in the barrel!
I think the blog is bravo and I have subscribed it.
Obama should be making these Republicans do what he wants,not sucking up to them. Screw bipartisanship. We need to leave the Republicans behind and do what we need to do.
If the Presidents policies are so popular with the American people why did his poll numbers drop more than any president at this point in their presidency in 50 years.