Visual Source: Newseum
CSM:
Pollsters are not sure why Obama has fared better than expected in the polls. [Frank] Newport offered two possibilities. "One theory has to do with personal characteristics of the man," the Gallup executive said. "The other has to do with the nature of politics today." Under that theory, Obama has "kind of a rock-hard coalition that are never going to abandon him in approval ratings, and therefore that is why his approval ratings will be propped up no matter what happens."
Gallup, he added, will be conducting research to get a more definitive answer to the question.
ABC's Gary Langer offers a theory:
The perception that Obama’s looking out for average folks looks to be a key element of his comparative durability. His approval rating exceeds 75 percent among people who think he cares more about protecting their economic interests, as well as those of the middle class and small businesses alike. Views on who’s better for Wall Street and corporate America, by contrast, don’t interact nearly as strongly with the president’s approval rating.
More on that ABC/WaPo poll
here.
MSNBC:
Fifty-five percent of all respondents — including 63 percent of Democrats, 59 percent of independents and 47 percent of Republicans — believe that not raising the ceiling would be problematic.
That's compared with just 18 percent who say it wouldn't be a real and serious problem. But that number jumps up to 33 percent among self-identified Tea Party supporters.
More on that NBC/WSJ poll
here. Taken together with the
CBS and Gallup polls, the public is swinging away from House Republicans, and that includes non-tea party Republicans.
NY Times:
And Republicans increasingly are showing signs of splintering. Some conservatives within Congress and outside have become increasingly vocal in asserting that the party is at risk of putting ideological purity ahead of the chance for a major deficit reduction that includes substantial Democratic concessions, including cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid spending.
Chris Cillizza/Aaron Blake:
Cutting through all the numbers, the reality for many Republicans is that they simply don’t believe that we are on the verge of crisis, and it’s virtually impossible — given their distrust of the country’s major institutions — for anyone or anything to convince them otherwise.
So don't try.
MSNBC:
The poll also makes clear that the public is more open to raising taxes to balance the budget than it is making cuts and changes to entitlement programs.
Sixty-two percent support raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy if that’s the only way to get a debt-ceiling agreement in Congress. But 52 percent say they oppose making changes and cuts in Social Security and Medicare if that’s the only way to get an agreement.
Meanwhile,
in Connecticut, layoffs just might be rescinded:
"Let me be very clear, we are not talking about major changes," to the original concessions proposal, Malloy said. But he said that provisions could be added to or subtracted from the original concessions deal, which was ratified by 57 percent of the SEBAC rank and file, but only by 11 of the 15 umbrella bargaining groups. At the time, union bylaws required 14 of the 15.
On Monday, SEBAC leaders voted to change the organization's bylaws, now requiring approval from only 8 of the 15 to change benefits and pensions.
Dan Balz/Jon Cohen:
Majorities of Americans see both President Obama and congressional Republicans as not willing enough to compromise in their budget negotiations, but the public views the GOP leaders as particularly intransigent, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
There is also growing dissatisfaction among Republicans with the hard-line stance of their congressional representatives: Fifty-eight percent say their leaders are not doing enough to strike a deal, up from 42 percent in March.