Voters are set to punish Democrats for failing to deliver on campaign promises and improve their lives. But the evidence mounts -- the Republican agenda remains toxic:
Americans offer tepid support for much of the Republican Party's domestic agenda, including repealing the new healthcare law and extending tax cuts for the wealthy, according to the latest Society for Human Resource Management/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll, conducted with the Pew Research Center.
The results suggest Republicans could struggle to pass legislation advancing many of the smaller-government themes that have dominated their campaigns in the midterm elections, even if the party wins control of one or both houses of Congress in November.
In particular, the party appears to risk a backlash from senior citizens, a critical voting bloc that harbors deep skepticism about tinkering with entitlement programs.
Among the findings:
29% of Americans support extending all of the Bush tax cuts.
32% support repealing the newly passed health care law.
33% support replacing Medicare with vouchers.
58% support creating Social Security private accounts.
46% support amending the Constitution to deny citizenship to children of illegal immigrants (49 are opposed).
Fewer than half of Republican respondents favored extending all the Bush tax cuts or replacing Medicare benefits with vouchers.
Poll respondents continue to disapprove of President Obama's signature healthcare legislation, 45% to 38%.
Three-quarters said they could not name the leader of the Republican Party, or that the party does not have a leader.
Bottom line:
Overall, Republican ideas appear to do best among white male voters.
Still, the poll offered little to suggest that the surge in voter support for Republican candidates, whom analysts project to win major gains this fall, carries over to support for policies championed this fall by Republican leaders in Washington and on the campaign trail.
In addition to doing a piss poor job of passing the best legislation possible the last 20 months, Democrats have done a piss poor job of communicating the successes they have had. And, they've certainly blown properly branding Republicans with their unpopular agenda, because when polled specifically about Republican priorities, the public recoils in horror.
