ABC-WaPo poll
In the wake of the current
Gang of Six (or Seven) discussions, the latest of the
slew of polls on the debt situation has a different twist. ABC's pollster
Gary Langer:
Most Americans think the Republicans in Congress have got Wall Street and large corporations’ backs, while President Obama prevails on protecting the middle class and small businesses: an edge that helps explain his better-than-dismal job approval in the teeth of a terrible economy.
By a wide 59-26 percent, the public sees congressional Republicans as more concerned than Obama with protecting the economic interests of Wall Street financial institutions, a new ABC News/Washington Post poll finds. Americans even more broadly, by 67-24 percent, put the GOP ahead when it comes to looking out for the interests of large business corporations.
The tables turn – albeit with much narrower margins – on other measures. Obama leads the GOP by 18 points in looking out for middle-class Americans, 53-35 percent. He also has a 10-point advantage, 47-37 percent, as being more concerned with the economic interests of “you and your family.” And he leads by 9 points, 48-39 percent, on protecting small businesses.
But check this out in terms of positioning:
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.
It matters in part because of Obama shortfalls in his base. At 77 percent, his approval rating among Democrats is at a career low in numerical terms: it has been in the 70s just twice previously, 78 and 79 percent last September and December. At 73 percent, his approval from liberals is a point from the low. Across the spectrum, he’s got a mere 9 percent approval from Republicans, down 7 points from last month, and just 21 percent among conservatives, another low.
In the middle, though, 55 percent of moderates and 48 percent of independents -– the latter 6 points better than the low -– approve of the president’s work, enough to keep him steady overall.
The
Washington Post throws in this comparison nugget:
At a similar time in 1983, Reagan benefited from substantial approval among independents (57 percent approving; 39 percent disapproving), topping Obama’s spread of 48 percent to 46 percent among those in the middle of the partisan spectrum. Relative to Obama, Clinton was buoyed by 22 percent approval among Republicans, which is more than double Obama’s current 9 percent among the opposing party.
It gives you an idea of how far to the right the Republicans have moved.
