AP-Gf Poll: Most attuned voters tilt toward GOP

[BABY1]

TweetWASHINGTON – Americans with the strongest opinions about the country's most divisive issues are largely unhappy with how President Barack Obama is handling them, an ominous sign for Democrats hoping to retain control of Congress in the fall .
In nine of 15 issues examined in an Associated Press-GfK Poll this month, more Americans who expressed intense interest in a problem voiced strong opposition to Obama's work on it, including the economy, unemployment, federal deficits and terrorism. They were about evenly split over the president's efforts on five issues and strongly approved of his direction on just one: U.S. relationships with other countries.
In another danger sign for Democrats, most Americans extremely concerned about 10 of the issues say they will vote for the Republican candidate in their local House race. Only those highly interested in the environment lean toward the Democrats.
The findings are troubling for Democrats struggling to protect their House and Senate majorities on Election Day. They suggest that many of the most involved voters — those with the deepest feelings about issues high on the nation's agenda — are furious with the party in power and will take out their wrath at the polls.
"I'm going to vote Republican, and hope there's some kind of message sent to the administration that the public is unhappy with what's happened the first two years of the Obama ," said Mark Milanese, 49, a building remodeler from Coatesville, Pa., who expressed strong disapproval for the president's approach to many major issues.
Congressional races often turn on local concerns and the candidates' character, factors that may yet sway many races this year. But many analysts think the public's widely sour mood — just 35 percent in the AP-GfK poll said the country is headed in the right direction — means this year's campaigns could be widely influenced by national issues, especially the economy.
"The economy is poor, we're muddling through in Afghanistan, we're not making much progress in the war on terror," said Paul Goren, a University of Minnesota political scientist who studies voting behavior. "Every once in a while national issues can intrude. It looks like there's a good chance this will be one of those elections."
To find people with the most intense views, the AP examined poll respondents who called an issue extremely important and compared those who strongly approved of Obama's handling of that matter with those who strongly disapproved.
By a 3-to-1 margin, more of these highly opinionated people strongly disapproved of the president's effort on the economy than strongly approved. More strongly disapproved of Obama's actions by a 2-to-1 ratio on unemployment, 2-1 on health care, 6-1 on the deficit and 2-1 on terrorism. His performance on Afghanistan, taxes, immigration and gas prices also drew strong disapproval.
Of the most frequently mentioned issues, the only one where most did not strongly disapprove of]Obama's work was education, on which they were closely divided. They were also split over his handling of energy, Iraq, the environment and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Those with the strongest views represent a minority of the population, ranging from one in nine people to one in three people, depending on the specific issue. Even so, they could be disproportionately crucial because turnout in election years without a presidential race is usually light.
Kristin Nilsen, 42, a Democrat and small business owner from North Hampton, N.H., considers education a top-tier problem and expressed disappointment that Obama hasn't devoted more time to it. But she said the president had to focus on the economy "so people will have a roof over their heads," and said she would vote for Democratic congressional candidates anyway to try thwarting the GOP.
"Their agenda is really about taking down the administration," she said.
Predictably, Republicans with the strongest opinions were overwhelmingly critical of Obama on most issues, while the fiercest Democrats were usually solidly supportive.
In many instances, though, GOP sentiment was more decisive. For example, among Republicans calling the economy extremely important, 79 percent strongly disapproved of Obama's efforts on the issue and 1 percent strongly approved. The margin was much narrower among Democrats: 27 percent strongly approved while 16 percent strongly disapproved.
Looking at independents who considered an issue extremely or very important, more strongly disapproved than strongly approved of Obama's handling of 12 of the 15 issues. This included mostly negative views of Obama from independents on 10 of the 11 issues most frequently cited by people as important, including the economy, unemployment and health care.
The poll was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications from Aug. 11-16, using landline and cell phone interviews with 1,007 randomly chosen adults. The margin of sampling is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

[FUZO]

TweetGallup: GOP Has Largest Poll Lead Ever






A new Gallup poll released Monday shows Republicans with a record 10-point edge over Democrats on the "generic ballot" test — the question of whether voters prefer a Democratic or Republican congressional candidate. It’s the largest GOP polling edge at this stage in the 68 years of the generic ballot poll, Politico first reported.

[Testify]

TweetI do not like to label myself, but most of you know that I largely believe in the Republican style and philosophy - moreso with the philosophy than style lately, but I think both parties have diverged considerably toward the far right and left in an effort to distance themselves from one another. It is stupid. In fact I am extremely unhappy with nearly every elected representative we have at the national government level. I did not want Obama, but hoped that perhaps he would use his immense popularity to effect positive bipartisan change for the good of the American people. I think most of us felt the same way, but rhetoric is still rhetoric, and campaign promises are still as worthless as always. The poll results speak for themselves; Obama is no longer a popular guy. He still has great influence, but that is about to disappear this November I think. I'm not sure I put all my stock into these polls, meaning that I don't think we will see a complete reversal in the imbalance of power in Congress. But I do believe that the Dems will lose many seats - enough to knock them off of the arrogant dictatorship-type of attitude that Obama pioneered as he swept into the oval office with all of the legislature at his fingertips. Their high horses will certainly be slumping a little lower as they strain to sip from that trickling stream of political capital, and plead for a drop of the public's now parched well of good will. Damn, that's almost bad enough to get me a job writing for the NY Post, huh? BUt I think what this really means for the American people is . . . NOTHING. We'll replace the old greasy politicians with new greasy politicians. I have no faith, and I have no doubts about that conviction. The Congressional appointees, now more evenly split, will argue more, obstruct to make the other look bad in the eyes of the public, and we'll get what? Headlines, bravado, accusations, maybe a scandal, he said - she said excuses, and what of thoughtful legislation that aims to improve the state of our country and its people? Don't get too excited in your anticipation . . . if our representatives could not set aside their pork and back-room dealing for the sake of America's future when they shaped the immense and unprecedented stimulus two years ago, why would they do so after the elections this November?

[FUZO]

Tweetthe number that sticks out is 68yrs that just shows you that he peole do not want this scum bag president anymore