For months, the polls showed voters with a pox-on-both-your-houses attitude. The surveys would show the public souring on the administration and [tag]Republicans[/tag] in Congress, but simultaneously show that they weren’t all that crazy about Dems either.
The Dems didn’t necessarily consider this bad news. If voters were in an anti-incumbent mood, and the Republicans are in the majority, then at least some [tag]Democrat[/tag]ic gains seemed inevitable. That said, these polls suggested Dems weren’t capitalizing on the public’s frustration with the GOP. Voters no longer like anyone.
It’s one of the reasons this week’s LA Times/Bloomberg poll was so interesting. It’s the first poll I’ve seen in a while that showed the Dems making actual gains, instead of just leading in a generic ballot match-up.
To be sure, we lead there, too.
Although President Bush’s job approval rating was essentially unchanged from his 38% showing last month, the new poll found Democrats opening double-digit leads on the key measures of voters’ early preferences for the November balloting.
Democrats lead Republicans 49% to 35% among registered voters who were asked which party they intended to support in their congressional districts this fall. When registered voters were asked which party they hoped would control the House and Senate after the midterm election, 51% picked the [tag]Democrats[/tag] and 38% the [tag]GOP[/tag].
On both questions, independent voters preferred Democrats by ratios of about 3 to 1 or more.
But poll respondents were also asked about their impressions of the parties in general. For Republicans, the public said it has a negative impression, 50% to 37%. For Dems, it’s a positive impression, 41% to 38%.
The same poll showed [tag]Dems[/tag] ahead of the GOP, by varying degrees, on which party “best represents your [tag]values[/tag],” “can best handle major national problems,” “can keep U.S. prosperous in years to come,” and “has more honesty and integrity.”
Consider this, you guessed it, your morale boost for the day.