 |
| Image via Wikipedia |
How many members of Congress deserve to lose their jobs? More than 75 percent of the registered voters said, "Yes, throw the bums out!" By that large margin voters said Congress deserves to be kicked down the road.
What about the all-important Independent voting bloc? They don't think Congress deserves to keep their jobs either, saying so by 80 percent. Republicans weigh in at 75 percent and Democrats at 68 percent.
But here's the kicker on this angry agreement across political party lines against Congress in general, there are still 53 percent that thinks their own representative deserves to be re-elected while 40 percent say they do not.
Back in the 2010 election, when voters were not quite so angry in general at Congress, they were still angry enough to rip the House away from the wimpy do-nothing Democrats and gave it to the scorched Earth destructive Republicans.
That voter fiasco created a 63-seat turnover that has made the past year even worse than before the election because of bizarre Tea Party newbies. This was the largest turnover by either party since 1948. The stingy Republicans have managed to create a whole new class of people: the former middle class now reduced to the working poor and The 99ers - those who have gone unemployed for years and exceeded unemployment benefits.
What about voter attitude towards Obama? It ain't good, folks. Only 43 percent thinks he deserves re-election. At one point that figure had dipped down to 37 percent (measured in October 2010). What is most telling is that a high of 55 percent think Obama does not deserve a second term and it's trending higher as time goes by.
With a low percentage of approval like this for Obama what are the historical views of Presidents winning re-election? Again, not likely. Ever since WWII when these stats have been gathered it bears out that it takes an approval rating of at least 48 percent to win a second term.
Approval for how Obama has handled the economy is only at 33 percent, according to the recent CBS poll. In fact, since 2008 when 75 percent of the country thought the economy was bad it has risen in 2011 to now 86 percent are negative on the economic outlook. There are 42 percent who say it is terrible.
Worse are the numbers delivering the perception that President Obama's policies have favored Wall Street over everyone else comes in at 42 percent. The fact that the pollsters even asked such a question lets you know it is high in the minds of everyday voters. Corporate politicians beware.
What about the perception of whether voters think President Obama shares their priorities? Not good on this front either. They weigh in at 54 percent think he does not share the same priorities for the country. When people go into the voting booth, invariably they go in to vote for someone who will help them. The fact that Obama is seen as someone who will not be good for the average voter says he will not see re-election.
A suggestion to members of Congress and President Obama? Get busy and do something more meaningful than payroll tax cuts and renaming the country's motto. As rocky and unstable as is the economy so too can be your political job prospects. Tick tock.
Subscribe in a reader to The Social Poets
* Check out Dennys News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food - a place where all my other 20 blogs link so you can choose from among the latest posts all in one place. A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. *
