by Mark Silva
A pair of Democratic and Republican pollsters has found that Democrats hold an advantage over Republicans in the biggest political debates underway.
A majority of voters surveyed side with the Democratic argument on taxes - by a margin of 52 percent to 43 percent - according to the poll run by Public Opinion Strategies, a Republican polling firm, and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, a Democratic firm, for National Public Radio.
Bipartisan polling is not new -- a number of firms have teamed up on their own in similar ventures, and other media companies have hired such pairings.
But in this exercise, each of the firms wrote "their strongest messages in each area'' and tested public reaction. On health care and energy matters, people sided with the Democratic message by a margin of 53 to 42 percent, the pollsters report.
"As Democrats hold the advantage on key issues, President Obama's approval rating remains strong,,' they report, with an approval rating for Obama similar to the one reported this week by the Pew Research Center. "Nearly six-in-ten voters (59 percent) approve of the job President Obama is doing while just 35 percent disapprove.''
(The disapproval rating in this survey is higher than in Pew's results.)
The survey of 800 likely voters was run March 10-12 and 14 and carries a possible margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
Comments
Prepare for the rabid to cry bias and evil media as the reason. It in no way could be that they are just plain wrong. Prepare for the "other" polls that prove they are on the right side of the issues. Like from polls r us and Faux News. Prepare for this to not change a thing with the ankle biters.
Bitching and moaning is far easier than ideas, and less risky for their political purposes.
ps...Mark....prepare for the onslaught for the cries against the Tribune and Swamp and how it is now losing readers. Of course it seems these very same ankle biters return day in and day out for more. King ankle biter Bruce has been crying since 2006.
Posted by: bill r. | March 17, 2009 1:07 PM
The Dems don't even really have to TRY anymore because the Repubs just tanking themselves.
"Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) for admitted that he has advised his fellow House Republicans to no longer think of themselves as "legislators," but rather as mere "communicators."
"As I told my colleagues, we don't have enough votes to legislate," Boehner said, according to Saturday's New York Times. "We are not in the majority. We are not kind-of in the minority; we are in a hole. They ought to get the idea out of their minds that they are legislators. But what they can be is communicators."
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/15/dnc-blasts-boehner-for-cl_n_175083.html
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Now THAT is a good motivational speaker! I know if I were a Republican, I wouldn't want to do anything at all, taking them from the "party of no" to the "party of nothing"
The Republicans have apparently decided their role is to simply oppose anything President Obama tries to do without offering any actual ideas of their own. I guess they figure that's been working out well for them so far:
"Since President Obama unveiled his budget last month, Republicans have been relentlessly attacking his comprehensive proposals. Last week, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) said that Obama "should be focusing on the ‘economic crisis,’ as opposed to holding four-hour meetings on health care." Today on ABC’s This Week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) kept up the drumbeat, saying, "It taxes too much, it spends too much, it borrows too much."
"However, host George Stephanopoulos repeatedly pressed McConnell for a comprehensive Republican alternative budget. Each time, McConnell simply attacked Obama’s plan. He said that he and his colleagues would be offering amendments to "reframe" what the Democrats have proposed, but don’t plan on offering a comprehensive plan."
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http://thinkprogress.org/2009/03/15/mcconnell-budget/
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The Republicons are on their merry way to going down as being some of the most ignominious a*shats in American history.
Posted by: Zep Van Kampen | March 17, 2009 1:29 PM
Mark,
Can't you find a poll from Wingnut loving Rasmussen and the Murdoch Street Journal that has "good news" for RNC Brucie and the Republicons?
I love watching them waller in their little fantasy world!
Posted by: Vast Left Conspiracy | March 17, 2009 1:49 PM
The Republicons are so out of touch with the average blue collar working American that it's not even funny...
The last eight years, while Republicons were in power, they doubled our national debt by giving tax cuts to the richest 1-2%, big corporations, and big oil. They also started an uncalled for pre-emptive war in Iraq where they gave out billions and billions to their rich private business cronies like Halliburton, KBR and Blackwater and they allowed billions that was meant for rebuilding Iraq to be put on pallets on C-130's transport planes to be flown over to Iraq only to have it go "missing" and now be "unaccounted for"..
The Republicons are never going to win elections if they don't stop pimping for the rich white oligarchy in this country - the rich who are crying about the tax cuts (that Bush gave them) being allowed to expire. The tax cuts that they never should have been given in the first place.
Posted by: Johnny Knoxville | March 17, 2009 2:01 PM
Pollester Greenberg has a basement dweller in his home, Rahm "the knifer" Emanuel, Obama's Chief of Staff, is living there...rent free.
How about giving sample sentences/questions on the poll?
As every teacher knows, questions can be slanted to give a certain response.
Ante the questions up!
Polling is as good as the questions presented to the public.
Beware.
Appears to be a rigged poll
Posted by: Roman | March 17, 2009 2:07 PM
As Republicans have shown with their recent hateful rhetoric towards President Obama. - the Wingnuts are almost as dangerous when they're out of power (Timothy McVeigh) as when they're in power (Iraq, torture, war crimes).
Posted by: baba booey | March 17, 2009 3:18 PM
It's a poll by NPR, written up by Silva. And everyone knows how bipartisan they are! [/sarc]
Posted by: Dissent is Patriotic | March 17, 2009 3:39 PM
It's a poll by NPR, written up by Silva. And everyone knows how bipartisan they are! [/sarc]
Posted by: Dissent is Patriotic | March 17, 2009 3:39 PM
.......
Bipartisan...kind of like the Wingnut Rasmussen and Murdoch Street Journal polls were, right Brucie?
Posted by: allardice | March 17, 2009 4:49 PM
Just a clarification for 'Roman' and 'Dissent is Patriotic'... if you read the original report about the poll, you'd no that the questions were not 'slanted'. Nor did NPR ask the questions. They had a Republican and Democratic pollster WRITE THEIR OWN BEST ARGUMENTS for the poll. Most Americans remain agreeing with Democrats (for the moment, anyway), even with the Republican Pollster writing his parties' arguments and views of those issues.
Posted by: Rob in Michigan | March 17, 2009 6:18 PM
The Repubs bitch when they win, when they lose, when it's sunny, when it's raining, in the majority, in the minority, it doesn't matter, it is just what they do.
The entire lot of them ought to be forced to wear Vitter sized diapers whenever they venture out to the talk show circuit to cry like babies about the days appointed whining points. I hope Obama and the Dems pound legislation right up their collective ass.
Posted by: bubba Porter | March 18, 2009 12:50 AM
"Rob in Michigan", learn how to spell at a 4th grade level before you start dissing others.
Posted by: Dissent is Patriotic | March 18, 2009 11:56 AM