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Friday, July 14, 2006
New AP-Ipsos Poll: Americans Want Dems in Power
According to a report in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the results of an Associated Press - Ipsos poll taken earlier this week reveal that Americans, by a margin of almost 3-1, have a poor opinion of a Republican-dominated Congress and want Democrats to regain power there. Also:
Further complicating the GOP outlook to turn things around is a solid percentage of liberals, moderates and even conservatives who say they'll vote Democratic. The party out of power also holds the edge among persuadable voters, a prospect that doesn't bode well for the Republicans.
... But a Democratic takeover of either the House or Senate would be disastrous for the president, leaving both his agenda for the last two years in office and the chairmanship of investigative committees in the hands of the opposition party. To seize control of Congress, the Democrats must displace 15 Republicans from House seats and six Republicans from the Senate.
... Overall, only 27 percent approved of the way Congress is doing its job. Lawmakers get favorable marks from 36 percent of conservatives, 28 percent of moderates and 17 percent of liberals
Meanwhile, Bush's approval rating remains unchanged since last month, hovering at 36 percent. What does all this mean? Locally, it means AG Patricia Madrid has an excellent shot of unseating Rep. Heather Wilson IF we work at it. Nationally, it means that Democrats retaking one or both Houses of Congress is a growing possibility IF we work at it. Are you inspired to get off your butt yet?
PS: Don't miss the meaningless quote by NM Repub gubernatorial candidate John Dendahl in the article. How the hell did a quote from him get in there? Rove must be working overtime.
July 14, 2006 at 09:54 AM in Democratic Party | Permalink
Comments
About 80% or so of the legislation that Democrats brought to the floor for a vote in the 109th congress gets shot down and Dendahl has the nerve to say the Democrats are the obstructionist? The sad part of it is that most of that legislation involves thing like raising the minimum wage, Veterans benefits, negotiating better pharmaceutical prices for seniors and other things that could HELP a lot of people where as the Republicans are only interested in helping the corporation's and the wealthiest Americans.
Posted by: VP | Jul 14, 2006 4:57:10 PM
After looking back at old articles that show how Patricia Madrid was one of the main obstructionists of the New Mexico vote recount efforts by the Greens and Libertarians, I have to ask 1) do the Dems even want to be in power and 2) were those polled given a choice of 3rd parties?
Posted by: Michal | Jul 14, 2006 5:10:07 PM
In a winner take all electoral system, a third party is not viable. All a third party can dare hope is to nudge the national discussion a bit in a certain direction.
One of Patricia Madrid's most important values is Loyalty. She is very discriminating about who earns her trust. One thing you can say about Patricia Madrid, she is a loyal Democrat.
Sorry that she may have stepped on a few third party toes but as far as I am concerned that is her job. Do you really want some weak push over to go to Washington to represent NM against all those GOP s.o.b.'s?
Just because she is a liberal does not make her any less stuff. Be glad at the prospect of her formidable intellect intervening on behalf of New Mexicans.
Posted by: qofdisks | Jul 14, 2006 11:46:01 PM
No candidate is perfect. I haven't found one yet in my many years on earth. Politics is always a balancing act, and the most effective way to vote is strategically, for the best of the choices we have.
Unfortunately, I think many green and lib voters are convinced that it's bad to vote for any candidate that isn't perfect. The reason they have this idealistic view is because few greens or libertarians have ever become elected officials. If they did, there'd be complaints about them too.
There is so much at stake in this election. If we don't win back at least one house of congress, there is no hope of holding Bush and his pals accountable, and no change to stop him from doing even worse things than he's already done. Given this emergency, I would vote for a carrot if it was running against Wilson this time.
I hope voters will understand this situation and vote to regain the house. Now or never.
Posted by: I Vote | Jul 15, 2006 10:52:14 AM
