Approval of Republicans at record low: poll

inmytreeinmytree Posts: 4,741
edited October 2006 in A Moving Train
stay the course....???

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061019/pl_nm/congress_poll_dc_1



Wed Oct 18, 11:31 PM ET

With congressional elections less than three weeks away, the Republican party's approval ratings are at an all-time low, with approval of the Republican-led Congress at its lowest point in 14 years, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on Wednesday.

Forty-seven percent of respondents said they were less in favor of keeping Republicans in control of Congress, compared to 14 percent who were more in favor of maintaining the current congressional makeup, according to the poll.

Only 16 percent of respondents approve of the job Congress is doing, the lowest level since 1992, NBC said.

In October 1994, when Democrats held congressional majorities, Congress had a 24 percent job approval, NBC said. Democrats lost 52 House and 8 Senate seats in the 1994 midterm elections.

NBC said the poll indicates people have been paying attention to the issues they are hearing about -- from Iraq and Bob Woodward's new book on the Bush administration's handling of the war to the unfolding scandal over former Florida Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record)'s e-mail messages to teenage congressional aides.

The poll numbers and President George W. Bush's own job approval ratings, which have been mired in the 30 percent range, are an ominous sign for a party trying to maintain control of Congress, NBC said.

Bush had a job approval rating of 38 percent, down 1 percentage point from a previous NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released earlier this month after the Foley news first broke, NBC said.

Asked who they planned to vote for in the congressional election, 37 percent of those polled said Republicans and 52 percent said Democrats. The 15 percent difference was the highest disparity ever in the poll and up from a 9-point difference a month ago, NBC said.

The poll of 1,006 registered voters was taken from October 13-16 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
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Comments

  • polarispolaris Posts: 3,527
    yet somehow this will not translate into election results ...
  • inmytreeinmytree Posts: 4,741
    polaris wrote:
    yet somehow this will not translate into election results ...

    I'm fearful of this, too....I wonder how electronic voting will come in to play...the machines are not secure, yet they will be used...
  • cincybearcatcincybearcat Posts: 16,446
    Yep, they blew it. They didn;t stick to fiscal conservatism and didn't take the opportunity to dominate the government for a long time to come by embracing some more liberal social values...some.

    They deserve to be gone. I just wish Ididn;t have to pay for their mistakes out of my bank account straight into more failed Dem social programs that will undoubtably be coming on the horizon. Awesome.

    I wouldn't worry about the elections...but then again, I'm not a scared, conspiracy loving liberal. ;)
    hippiemom = goodness
  • inmytree wrote:
    I'm fearful of this, too....I wonder how electronic voting will come in to play...the machines are not secure, yet they will be used...

    Umm...paper voting isn't secure either.

    Why is that people think technology is so insecure? They'll freak out if they give an encrypted credit card number to a computer, but won't think twice about handing the actual credit card to a human being at a restaurant....
  • inmytreeinmytree Posts: 4,741
    Umm...paper voting isn't secure either.

    Why is that people think technology is so insecure? They'll freak out if they give an encrypted credit card number to a computer, but won't think twice about handing the actual credit card to a human being at a restaurant....


    I think twice...thus I use cash or American Express, which I pay at the end of each month...

    as for e-voting machines, we'll see how that works out...I was just throwing that concern out there....I memory serves me right, it was recently reported e-voting machines could be hacked...other than Hiro on Heroes, I don't don't know of anyone you can change paper tickets...;)
  • polarispolaris Posts: 3,527
    inmytree wrote:
    I'm fearful of this, too....I wonder how electronic voting will come in to play...the machines are not secure, yet they will be used...

    i'm guessing that the GOP will continue to hold control and that any voting irregularities reported will be dismissed and those that question the legitimacy will be considered sore losers ...

    edit: as for the credit cards, i have a paper trail that tells me where i've used that credit card ... there isn't one for the voting machines ... huge difference
  • Puck78Puck78 Posts: 737
    so, how long before that there will be a "terror alarm", that Bush will claim to have arginated?
    www.amnesty.org
    www.amnesty.org.uk
  • my2handsmy2hands Posts: 17,117
    i would look for the "october suprise"
  • Jammin909Jammin909 Posts: 888
    polaris wrote:
    i'm guessing that the GOP will continue to hold control and that any voting irregularities reported will be dismissed and those that question the legitimacy will be considered sore losers ...

    Right on- you a flimsy wristed fucking pansy if you question the integrity of the government, the war, or rationale behind a new law/act.
    The less you know, the more you believe.
  • chopitdownchopitdown Posts: 2,222
    WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Half of all Americans believe most members of Congress are corrupt -- a figure that has risen 12 points since the start of the year -- and more than a third think their own representative is crooked, according to a new poll released Thursday by CNN.

    According to the poll, a majority disapproves of how both parties are handling their jobs in Congress. Just 42 percent approve of how the Democrats are doing in Congress, while 54 percent disapprove. The GOP fares even worse -- only 36 percent approve of their performance in Congress, while 61 percent disapprove.

    Pollsters from Opinion Research Corp. interviewed 1,012 Americans from Friday through Sunday. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

    In January, 22 percent of those polled said they believed their own member of Congress was corrupt, a number that has jumped to 36 percent since then.

    The dismal ratings come almost three weeks before midterm elections will give voters a chance to either change the face of the legislative body or leave it the way it is.

    But Americans are squeamish about electronic voting machines as they prepare to head for the polls. Sixty-one percent say they expect inaccurate results because of technical glitches, while two-thirds say it is likely that hackers or political operatives will prevent the machines from producing an accurate count.

    Asked how confident they are that their own vote will be counted accurately, 44 percent of poll respondents said they were very confident and 36 percent said they were somewhat confident.

    But looking at the nation as a whole, only 31 percent of respondents said they had complete confidence in an accurate vote count, along with 47 percent who said they were somewhat confident. http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/19/congress.poll/index.html
    make sure the fortune that you seek...is the fortune that you need
  • polarispolaris Posts: 3,527
    i wonder if this is the kind of democracy bush hopes to spread ... one where not even his own citizens have faith in ...
  • cincybearcatcincybearcat Posts: 16,446
    polaris wrote:
    i wonder if this is the kind of democracy bush hopes to spread ... one where not even his own citizens have faith in ...


    OPen your eyes a bit. Look around the world. Disputed eections in other countries...it's the world climate. Sure, BUsh has some part in it, but not as much as you would like.
    hippiemom = goodness
  • polarispolaris Posts: 3,527
    OPen your eyes a bit. Look around the world. Disputed eections in other countries...it's the world climate. Sure, BUsh has some part in it, but not as much as you would like.

    yeah ... now, look to see which countries the US are part of ... there are many countries that do not have disputed elections ... doesn't it bother you that so many people believe their elected officials are crooked?? ... i would think that is something that should not be tolerable ...

    i may not like the direction of some elected officials but i'm not close to calling all of them crooked either ...
  • cincybearcatcincybearcat Posts: 16,446
    polaris wrote:
    yeah ... now, look to see which countries the US are part of ... there are many countries that do not have disputed elections ... doesn't it bother you that so many people believe their elected officials are crooked?? ... i would think that is something that should not be tolerable ...

    i may not like the direction of some elected officials but i'm not close to calling all of them crooked either ...


    You're a homer.

    Sure it bothers me some. I don't think they are all so much crooked as dumb. People like to complain though, it's what they are good at. Blaming others, Eh? Canada has the same problems without the microscope.
    hippiemom = goodness
  • The reason I'm worried about the electronic voting machines is because digital technology has been hacked and hacked and hacked.
  • polarispolaris Posts: 3,527
    You're a homer.

    Sure it bothers me some. I don't think they are all so much crooked as dumb. People like to complain though, it's what they are good at. Blaming others, Eh? Canada has the same problems without the microscope.

    your last statement is probably true ... however, i can't believe you are actually giving those guys the benefit of the doubt ...
  • cincybearcatcincybearcat Posts: 16,446
    polaris wrote:
    your last statement is probably true ... however, i can't believe you are actually giving those guys the benefit of the doubt ...

    Certainly too many crooks, but a majority? Not sure about that. I think there are some decent peolpe that make some bad decisions from time to time...and apparently in the Washington environment, I think some start to lose a sense of reality and what is exceptable cause they see others doing things.

    Now, it is the extent to which they do that where I would draw the line between being dumb and being a crook.
    hippiemom = goodness
  • Uncle LeoUncle Leo Posts: 1,059
    No conspiracy theory. No worries about voting machines. No worries about terror alerts...

    Nevertheless, I still think the GOP will GAIN seats in the Senate and House this year (and for the next several election years).

    These people who are unhappy will not vote. Incumbants usually win.
    I cannot come up with a new sig till I get this egg off my face.
  • EbizzieEbizzie Posts: 240
    Uncle Leo wrote:
    No conspiracy theory. No worries about voting machines. No worries about terror alerts...

    Nevertheless, I still think the GOP will GAIN seats in the Senate and House this year (and for the next several election years).

    These people who are unhappy will not vote. Incumbants usually win.



    Don't count on it.
    Only 16 percent of respondents approve of the job Congress is doing, the lowest level since 1992, NBC said.

    In October 1994, when Democrats held congressional majorities, Congress had a 24 percent job approval, NBC said. Democrats lost 52 House and 8 Senate seats in the 1994 midterm elections.
    "Worse than traitors in arms are the men who pretend loyalty to the flag, feast and fatten on the misfortunes of the nation while patriotic blood is crimsoning the plains." -- Abraham Lincoln
  • EbizzieEbizzie Posts: 240
    Yep, they blew it. They didn;t stick to fiscal conservatism and didn't take the opportunity to dominate the government for a long time to come by embracing some more liberal social values...some.

    They deserve to be gone.



    This is spot on. It seriously disgusts me what has transpired over the past few years with this republican majority. I had SUCH high hopes for some real change in things that REALLY matter to me....smaller government, privatization of social security, real income tax reform, a balanced budget, lowering of the trade deficit, etc..all GOP cornerstones. Instead we've got a ballooning debt, a spiraling trade deficit, a president w/ a republican majority who couldn't pass simple social security reform, a fucking gaggle in Iraq which is costing BILLIONS of our money, a new cabinet position signifying a growth in government, a fucking attack on domestic soil under the "security conscious" GOP watch, liberty-crushing laws and illegal domestic spying, an incompetent defense secretary, and MORE corporate crime.

    It's a goddamn fucking embarrassment for me to say that I ever voted republican, much more that I'm a fucking registered republican. They've lost my vote, possibly for good.

    I've got faith that someday soon, regardless of party affiliation, someone is going to come and save the day. Could that man be Barrack Obama? I don't know, but there's someone out there that will aim to successfully restore the respectability of this nation. We need a man (or woman) to come in and push for congressional term limits, place very low caps on campaign spending to allow the everyday man a chance to run for office, place extremely strict rules on lobbyists, to open the doors to the white house to the press allowing full and complete disclosure on all issues involving tax payer dollars, rules against porkbarreling...the list could go on and on. But I take comfort in the fact that it's all possible, it just takes enough people getting fed up like I am to push for change. Enough people to ignore the propoganda spewed about and concentrate on a candidate's character, what experiences in life built that character, and the truthiness a candidate offers.
    "Worse than traitors in arms are the men who pretend loyalty to the flag, feast and fatten on the misfortunes of the nation while patriotic blood is crimsoning the plains." -- Abraham Lincoln
  • CommyCommy Posts: 4,984
    inmytree wrote:
    stay the course....???

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061019/pl_nm/congress_poll_dc_1



    Wed Oct 18, 11:31 PM ET

    With congressional elections less than three weeks away, the Republican party's approval ratings are at an all-time low, with approval of the Republican-led Congress at its lowest point in 14 years, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on Wednesday.

    Forty-seven percent of respondents said they were less in favor of keeping Republicans in control of Congress, compared to 14 percent who were more in favor of maintaining the current congressional makeup, according to the poll.

    Only 16 percent of respondents approve of the job Congress is doing, the lowest level since 1992, NBC said.

    In October 1994, when Democrats held congressional majorities, Congress had a 24 percent job approval, NBC said. Democrats lost 52 House and 8 Senate seats in the 1994 midterm elections.

    NBC said the poll indicates people have been paying attention to the issues they are hearing about -- from Iraq and Bob Woodward's new book on the Bush administration's handling of the war to the unfolding scandal over former Florida Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record)'s e-mail messages to teenage congressional aides.

    The poll numbers and President George W. Bush's own job approval ratings, which have been mired in the 30 percent range, are an ominous sign for a party trying to maintain control of Congress, NBC said.

    Bush had a job approval rating of 38 percent, down 1 percentage point from a previous NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released earlier this month after the Foley news first broke, NBC said.

    Asked who they planned to vote for in the congressional election, 37 percent of those polled said Republicans and 52 percent said Democrats. The 15 percent difference was the highest disparity ever in the poll and up from a 9-point difference a month ago, NBC said.

    The poll of 1,006 registered voters was taken from October 13-16 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

    suite.
  • Umm...paper voting isn't secure either.

    Why is that people think technology is so insecure? They'll freak out if they give an encrypted credit card number to a computer, but won't think twice about handing the actual credit card to a human being at a restaurant....
    Yes, but you can't change thousands of paper ballots with a few lines of code.
  • Purple HawkPurple Hawk Posts: 1,300
    polaris wrote:
    i'm guessing that the GOP will continue to hold control and that any voting irregularities reported will be dismissed and those that question the legitimacy will be considered sore losers ...

    edit: as for the credit cards, i have a paper trail that tells me where i've used that credit card ... there isn't one for the voting machines ... huge difference

    have you ever considered that the polling methodologies used are flawed? wow, what are the chances that these polls, and the way they are reported and believed have no basis in reality? is this the left's strategy? to use generic ballots which mean absolutely nothing, to use completely worthless questions like do you approve of the GOP in congress...which has absolutely NOTHING to do with how people vote for their own member of congress. to use samples that include people all eligible adults instead of likely voters which skew the results towards the dems....to build up all this hype...and IF things don't go your way to blame it all on voting machines? do you realize how unattached from reality you are?
    And you ask me what I want this year
    And I try to make this kind and clear
    Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
    Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
    And desire and love and empty things
    Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
  • Purple HawkPurple Hawk Posts: 1,300
    just for people's information....

    these types of polls offer abolutely NOTHING into our insight of congressional elections.

    first, this poll is of registered voters. how many of them will vote? about 35% And another thing...did this poll actually ask people if they could IDENTIFY the majority party in the House? because only 60% of americans can consitently do so.

    second, this poll is a national poll. congressional elections are local. we don't get to vote for majority party status. it is clear that dems will pick up some seats b/c most of the close races are held by republicans. but there are only about 30 - 40 seats in play.

    these are the races we should focus on, and will actually lend some insight.

    i'm not sure why anyone would pay ANY credence to a question that ask's "do you approve of reps or dems in congress?" because you can only vote for or against your member. God i hate the media's coverage of elections.
    And you ask me what I want this year
    And I try to make this kind and clear
    Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
    Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
    And desire and love and empty things
    Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
  • polaris wrote:
    yet somehow this will not translate into election results ...


    Of course it wont. Keep telling yourself the old media is just shooting it to ya straight. It wont translate because almost every public opinion poll is imbelished if not an outright lie. It would probably stupify even the brightest of the uninformed by simply looking at polling data alone over the past 30 years. One would think there hadn't been a Republican president since Nixon. Then again, funny how he's the newest Democratic poster child isn't it? Prepare yourself for another round of "We must have underestimated voter turnout" on November 3rd. These guys laughably leave out the "...again" ending to that statement each year. It makes Bush's use of the term misunderestimated somewhat justified.

    If Democrats intend on ever winning elections they must somehow find a way to inform the public of what they honestly believe in and stop trying to win elections by pointing fingers, calling for resignation after resignation and by just simply telling the American public that they can "do it better." The Democratic party is a party of empty ideas. I'm sure PJ put on some great shows during the Vote for Change tour. But simply put, "voting for change" is no reason to vote for change. It's elementary.

    Good luck at the poles Jackasses. =)
    "Sarcasm: intellect on the offensive"

    "What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."

    Camden 5-28-06
    Washington, D.C. 6-22-08
  • Of course it wont. Keep telling yourself the old media is just shooting it to ya straight. It wont translate because almost every public opinion poll is imbelished if not an outright lie. It would probably stupify even the brightest of the uninformed by simply looking at polling data alone over the past 30 years. One would think there hadn't been a Republican president since Nixon. Then again, funny how he's the newest Democratic poster child isn't it? Prepare yourself for another round of "We must have underestimated voter turnout" on November 3rd. These guys laughably leave out the "...again" ending to that statement each year. It makes Bush's use of the term misunderestimated somewhat justified.

    If Democrats intend on ever winning elections they must somehow find a way to inform the public of what they honestly believe in and stop trying to win elections by pointing fingers, calling for resignation after resignation and by just simply telling the American public that they can "do it better." The Democratic party is a party of empty ideas. I'm sure PJ put on some great shows during the Vote for Change tour. But simply put, "voting for change" is no reason to vote for change. It's elementary.

    Good luck at the poles Jackasses. =)


    Jackasses are the ones who are more concerned with whether the asshole they're voting for is a dem or a rep. It cannot be said enough...drop party titles and maybe, FUCKING MAYBE, we'll get people in there that will actually make a difference.
  • Jackasses are the ones who are more concerned with whether the asshole they're voting for is a dem or a rep. It cannot be said enough...drop party titles and maybe, FUCKING MAYBE, we'll get people in there that will actually make a difference.


    I'm sorry, but do you have any figures on the number of democrats that voted for Bush in '04? How about '00? I hear a lot of so-called "Republicans" who voted for Bush in '00 that hate him now... Do you know of anyone who voted for Gore in '00 that voted for Bush in '04?

    Who cares wether politicians have titles or not? Most lie consistently. Most run on platforms that become nothing more than an election grab.

    Also, 8% of this country actively serves in the military. Would it be irrational to believe that the reason that the 3%-6% leads that a democrat may carry into no particular election results in loses by 2%-3% points because those personnel are never polled. Look no further than the results of '06. Is it not laughable Democrats wanted oversees military votes tossed in '00?
    "Sarcasm: intellect on the offensive"

    "What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."

    Camden 5-28-06
    Washington, D.C. 6-22-08
  • I'm sorry, but do you have any figures on the number of democrats that voted for Bush in '04? How about '00? I hear a lot of so-called "Republicans" who voted for Bush in '00 that hate him now... Do you know of anyone who voted for Gore in '00 that voted for Bush in '04?

    Who cares wether politicians have titles or not? Most lie consistently. Most run on platforms that become nothing more than an election grab.

    Also, 8% of this country actively serves in the military. Would it be irrational to believe that the reason that the 3%-6% leads that a democrat may carry into no particular election results in loses by 2%-3% points because those personnel are never polled. Look no further than the results of '06. Is it not laughable Democrats wanted oversees military votes tossed in '00?


    They point I'm trying to make is way too many people vote down the line, simply because they think that (insert title) is a better choice. If we actually got rid of the titles, then more people would be forced to pay attention to what politicians are saying. I'm not saying everyone does it. I think it's awsome that registered dems and reps actually care enough about the cause to vote who they see fit. It's early and I doubt I'm explaining myself very well.
  • polarispolaris Posts: 3,527
    have you ever considered that the polling methodologies used are flawed? wow, what are the chances that these polls, and the way they are reported and believed have no basis in reality? is this the left's strategy? to use generic ballots which mean absolutely nothing, to use completely worthless questions like do you approve of the GOP in congress...which has absolutely NOTHING to do with how people vote for their own member of congress. to use samples that include people all eligible adults instead of likely voters which skew the results towards the dems....to build up all this hype...and IF things don't go your way to blame it all on voting machines? do you realize how unattached from reality you are?

    ha! ... i'm unattached?? ... firstly, i have considered all your options but have you considered that someone might actually tamper with these machines in order to win? ... if you do not think that is possible - then maybe you should check your own reality ...

    secondly ... ebizzie's post pretty much sums it up ... common sense would indicate that these polls however they are worded all say the same thing: discontent with this administration ...
  • Is it not laughable Democrats wanted oversees military votes tossed in '00?
    Just one little eensy-weensy clarification.

    The Democrats in 2000 were happy to have absentee ballots from military personnel overseas counted -- when they arrived by the legal deadline. The overseas absentee ballots they were trying to "toss" were those that arrived *after* the deadline. (Oh, and Katharine Harris is learning that what goes around comes around. It's Karma.)

    And there was plenty of evidence that the ones that arrived *after* the deadline were "arranged" by military personnel who encouraged voter fraud because the Florida election was so close. (Cable news at the time was showing videotape of an officer addressing a room full of soldiers and telling them that it was not too late, even though it was a couple days after the election.)

    Also, I know that the military vote traditionally breaks Republican. But I wonder how long that will last. Republicans threw our soldiers into harm's way without knowing what we were getting into or how to get out. Not to mention the way they've just decimated veteran's benefits -- taking money and medical care away from those who've served their country. There's only so long that people will keep voting against their interests.
    "Things will just get better and better even though it
    doesn't feel that way right now. That's the hopeful
    idea . . . Hope didn't get much applause . . .
    Hope! Hope is the underdog!"

    -- EV, Live at the Showbox
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