Gallup Poll shows largest Republican lead ever

[onehandle]

Source: Yahoo News

With five months to go before the general election, a new poll finds that Republicans have opened their widest lead yet when it comes to which party voters prefer this fall. Gallup's generic congressional ballot finds that the number of voters who say they will vote GOP has jumped to 49 percent, compared with 43 percent for Democrats. That's not only the biggest lead Gallup has recorded for the GOP this election cycle, it's the largest lead Republicans have ever had in the poll, which Gallup has run since 1950.

According to Gallup, the GOP gained 3 percentage points in the poll over the last week, while Dems fell 4 points. All of this happened as President Obama's approval rating took a hit, especially with his handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Gallup puts Obama's approval rating at 46 percent — not exactly in George W. Bush territory, but low for this White House.

No doubt critics will question how much a generic poll really reveals about what might happen in November. After all, it's often better to break down races locally for a more comprehensive picture of how the midterm elections might go. But generic ballots are very good at telling us where voter sentiment is nationally and how enthusiastic people are — or aren't — about the political parties.

One number that Democrats are surely not pleased about is what poll experts call the "enthusiasm" gap. According to Gallup, 39 percent of Republicans are excited about the 2010 elections, compared with just 24 percent of Democrats. That's one of the leading measures of how likely it is that voters will turn out to vote, and if Democrats can't find a way to close that 15-point gap, November could be a painful month for President Obama and other party leaders.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100602/pl_ynews/ynews_pl2355

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. If our D pols would look into a mirror, they'd see why our enthusiasm

is not exactly sky high.

showing less DINOism and more of a spine would change things rather quickly. Besides, DINOs are not just endangered, they are extinct.

[breadandwine]

12. Obama is stuck in DLC mode. The more the GOP gains, the more he thinks he should be a good little

GOP suck up.

He has no spine and no ability to show leadership.

His whole presidency and especially his behavior in the oil leak is:

NO WE CAN'T.

With the oil leak Obama's DLC presidency finally ran out of gas.

It's over.

The GOP is going to take over Congress in the Fall because Obama spent the last year and a half doing everything possible to prove he was sorry for being progressive. His ship lay at anchor while the GOP charged ahead. He is guilty of what Martin Luther King decried as "the tranquilizing drug of gradualism." Only enthusiastic people vote in midterm elections and thanks to all of Obama's GOP cave-ins, only the GOP is enthusiastic going into this election. He constantly acts as if he's a follower and not a leader and a weak wimp. Obama and everyone around him do nothing but stick their finger in the wind and the result is failure that everyone on both sides of the political divide can smell.

[Iowa]

27. You nailed it.

[muffin1]

29. +1

:thumbsup:

[depakid]

32. +1

"With the oil leak Obama's DLC presidency finally ran out of gas."

[OhioChick]

37. Agreed. n/t

[ej510]

42. Obama is too corporate friendly.

[Cass]

47. Good summation of the depressing truth.

I would never have believed that the Congress and Obama would have squandered the opportunity given to them by the voters, but they have.

[joe black]

50. At a very rapid rate.

Almost like it was planned that way. Maybe Obama realized what a deep, deep pit of shit he is in and said to himself " fuck it ".

[Greyhound]

56. As was pointed out for almost two years, he was a pre-packaged, over-hyped, corporate candidate.

An empty suit propped up in front of the dimwits to pacify them for another four years while the people that matter finish up their tasks.

Now, we're surprised that he's being an inoffensive, mass-marketed, corporate errand boy....

[defendandprotect]

68. Gore also regretted having listened to the DLC .. .

[primavera]

76. He should recall how well that worked out for Kerensky

People need leadership and vision and change, not accommodationism.

[Common Sense Party]

53. So, accordingly, Obama should nationalize BP, sign an executive order

declaring cradle-to-grave Medicare For All, and put all Wall Street firms and banks out of business immediately.

[Ken Burch]

67. He should at least sound like he believes in things like that

What's wrong with ANY of the above?

You can't still believe that centrism works, for god's sake.

[defendandprotect]

69. That's rather an extreme number of strawmen . . .

Obama has wasted almost two months letting BP do whatever in the hell they wanted

to do. And began by telling us "Oil rigs these days don't spill" while finishing

up now with "The Gulf will bounce back" -- !!

Both statements make him sound delusional and I perhaps Michelle will come along

and whisper in the ear that Rahm isn't using and let him know that ... ?


What's wrong with Medicare for All? And why do you think Americans don't deserve

universal health care -- "cradle to grave" as the right wingers frame it?

As for Wall Street and banks, simply returning to the New Deal regulations on corporations

would be sufficient -- however, you might have noticed that they pretty much put themselves

"out of business" . . . ??? And that we bailed them out . . . ????


When you have to so majorly distort what is being said here, it becomes obvious that you

have little legitimate debate to make.

[Arctic Dave]

2. Obviously its our fault. n/t

[Rozlee]

3. Let's see if Teabaggers and their gaffes and extremism influence these "local" races.

If a weak candidate like Harry Reid (whom incidentally, I dislike) is pulling ahead due to public repulsion of extremist Teabag candidates, it can't be anything but good news for Demos. Having said that, it still looks like a bloodbath for us. Still, demographics are on our side for the long haul. A mantra and platform of taxbreaks for the wealthy can only take you so far. I wish Democrats would pound on the public about how it's Republicans who are obstructing caps on the amount of damages oil companies have to pay out for disasters such as the one on the Gulf. But, are they? Noooo. Of course not.

[saigon68]

48. We'll see in 4 months whether little butt boy Rahm

Can pull it off.

Nice job in PA Rahm--- your handling of that "Sestak bit" by your old mentor Bill was priceless

[Joanne98]

4. Gallop has no cred anymore!

[closeupready]

19. And we know that from their 2004 predicions of yet another Bush victory.

:eyes:

[Beetwasher]

34. No, We Know That Because Of Their Poll Of Iraqi's Showing The People Of Iraq Support The US Invasion

Among other shitty, totally propoganda driven polling.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Beetwasher/4

[defendandprotect]

70. Agree . . . and if you can fix elections you can certainly fix polls . . .

[Tempest]

5. Right leaning Gallup is out of step with other polls

The difference between Gallup and other polls is beyond the margin of error.

http://pollingreport.com/2010.htm

[struggle4progress]

43. Thanks. It looks like the country is split down the middle, as it has been for decades

[Common Sense Party]

54. Yes, that's the ticket: When a poll comes out we don't like, we demean it as

partisan hackery.

[Tempest]

58. Who's demeaning the poll?

I pointed out, with a cite to other polls, that Gallup was out of step.

The fact that Gallup leans right is well documented and has been admitted to by Gallup management.

[FarLeftFist]

6. I wasn't polled, were you?

[knixphan]

20. I wasn't polled.

[knixphan]

21. Progressive Primary Challengers.

Halter, Winograd, etc...

Let's ignore the friggin polls and run real Dems in every primary.

[rucky]

46. I actually was.

didn't help much, though.

[Captain Hilts]

7. IGNORE. People are referring only to everybody else's congresscritter. nt

[get the red out]

10. Exactly!!!

All politics is local.

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. That's like watching a weathervane in turbulent weather .

It's not accurate - Don't fall for it.

[sinkingfeeling]

9. Proving once again that the average American can't remember anything that didn't happen 15 minutes

ago! They just can't recall the 5.3 trillion dollars borrowed from 2001-2008.

[bluestateguy]

11. This has already been dubunked as false

and should not have been posted.

[breadandwine]

13. bluestateguy, is that just a line or can you prove it?

Got any links to make your case?


Looks pretty bleak for the Democrats to me.

[girl gone mad]

35. Ignore it and it will go away.

Is that the new mantra?

[Common Sense Party]

62. Apparently so.

"We don't like the results of this poll, so we'll say it's meaningless, right-wing propaganda."

And we'll sit and wait for a poll we LIKE to come along.

[LaurenG]

14. I don't know how accurate this is but I do think we will lose seats. nt

[theFrankFactor]

26. I Can't Imagine Why? Look at Our Record! This is Poppy Cock!

Poppy Cock I say!

[mariawr]

15. Dems need to be more like Dems and not rethugs...

..and the poll numbers would soar.

[depakid]

31. With every constituency that the administration and congress backhands- or backdstabs

the numbers will get worse.

Too bad the administration just had to triangulate on oil drilling weeks before the spill, eh?

[shotten99]

16. Time to get to work then

[and-justice-for-all]

17. Full of shit propaganda....I am not buying it...nt

[harun]

63. Me either.

[JCMach1]

18. it's the oil

It's turning into Obama's hostage crisis... a la Carter

[elocs]

22. Well, I know that I don't believe any poll that disagrees with my point of view.

Of course, that's pretty much how most Republicans believe also.

[bvar22]

23. !

"When given the choice between a Republican, and a Democrat who acts like a Republican, the voters will choose the Republican every time." ---Harry Truman

QED Massachusetts

"If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for,
at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them."
--- Paul Wellstone

[CLANG]

24. We'll all get what we deserve - AGAIN!

[theFrankFactor]

25. If Only Democrats Had a Chance to Show What We Can Accomplish!!!

When we take over Congress and the Exec. branch the nation will be so grateful! You'll see! I love the Democratic party!

[WhiteTara]

28. I've noticed that they get all excited before the

elections, and forget to vote. These aren't regular voters, like the republican party faithfuls.

[totodeinhere]

30. I don't get particularly excited about one poll one way or the other.

You can produce a poll to show almost anything. And there is a long time until November. I just hope that the voters realize what is at stake and remember the big mess that the GOP got us in just recently. We can't go back to that.

[daleo]

33. 25% of American households don't have landlines

This fact is making polling less and less scientific.

[krabigirl]

39. Yep and many of those people are young, lean left etc.

We have a landline but never answer it. I only use it to fax stuff.

[daleo]

44. Yes, response bias in polls is beginning to render them useless

That's a fact known to anyone in the surveying business, though the media generally ignores it.

[onehandle]

49. They factor that in.

I don't think its going to be as bad as this poll indicates, mostly because jobs are returning and we have a little time. But pollsters factor that in, and statistically people who don't have landlines are less likely to vote. Which is interesting in itself.

[defendandprotect]

71. Would just add that poll questions are generally framed in a bias . . .

the few times I've been asked such questions, I've restated my opinion and

refused to participate --

[alfredo]

75. People with landlines tend to be older. People under 35

are less likely to have landlines.

I have a landline, but it is just for data.

[Arrowhead2k1]

36. Obama's in deep shit this time around.

He played too much to the center and catered to the corporations, now we gotta pay for it.

[Amonester]

38. Uh-oh, he IS center (center-right on some things, center-left on others)

But the problem is, he's right to the center on the most important things (un-necessary wars and defense spending the US cannot afford anymore, bailing out the criminals in the supposedly "too-big-to-fail" banks instead of breaking them into small pieces, talks about privatizing Social Security, letting the war criminals of the bush/cheney junta get away with their crimes scot-free, a health INSURANCE reform instead of a health CARE reform, and on and on).

All those were important CHANGES most true Democrats believed in... (and still do, but...) :(

[classysassy]

40. Just a bunch of republican dirty tricksters

trying to influence voters.If voters are stupid enough to return the republicans to power let them do it at their own peril.

[Amonester]

41. I am afraid the Mayans were right...

about 2012 :(

[vercetti2021]

45. Oh lord

Help us if you exist and make sure the GOP doesn't regain control if they do we are so fucked.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

51. BO acts like Bush on most critical issues.

First on the stimulus he gave away a quarter of a trillion in tax cuts (predominantly for the rich) to a Republican vote in the Senate. No regulation on the bank bailout. Planetary TRAITOR at Copenhagen. He funds his bullshit health care bill, in part, by taxing the poor. He has acted *worse* than Bush on BP. At least Bush said he got it a couple of weeks after Katrina, when his staff showed him the DVD. It took BO more than a month.

I never thought a Democratic president could fill me with rage. But here I am. I wouldn't piss down his throat if his heart was on fire.

[Common Sense Party]

55. How do you REALLY feel?

[Admiral Loinpresser]

57. LOL.

I should have closed by saying "strong message to follow."

[Evasporque]

52. Tell the same lie over and over and people will believe it...

No way do I think that Americans will elect a bunch of Sarah Palin Republicans...

It would be the death of this nation.

[Bigmack]

59. Americans elected Reagan and Bush...

and it hasn't been so bad. All we've done is blow our fortune, destroyed the middle class, increased the number of Americans in poverty, gotten involved in two expensive, pointless wars, nearly killed a strong economy..... Oh.... ummm....

Ya got a point.

I don't think most Americans are very bright.

[newspeak]

64. The repug MO

create the problem-deregulation, security, bogus wars and then tell the people you have the solution. Flush the country down the drain and then convince them you're the knight in shining armor. If the American people are foolish enough to vote repug, they deserve what they get-of course, the rest of us don't deserve to live under "stupid."

In Nevada, I'm watching repugs go after each other and all the time it's the same old shite. Blah, blah, blah--no new taxes and I'm a conservative. I don't mind paying taxes as long as it helps our communities-but, I'm betting there code words are for the "have mores." Yeah, they're about as conservative as Reagan who increased the deficit by 128%. Little Boots created a huge deficit with his bogus war hard on and now you got repugs saying that they're concerned about the deficit. They sure weren't concerned about it when they were giving windfall cash to their corporate buddies.

Like I said, they create the problem and tell the proles they have the solution.

And, this oil spill, to me, is directly related to Darth Cheney's energy meeting with his favorite greedy, sociopathic buddies. Deregulation all the way.

I won't be voting for the DLC, either. At least in the primary, if I'm left no choice, then it's going to be again, the lesser of two evils. Cause ya know one will rape you while the other usually seduces.

[defendandprotect]

72. I don't think we elected Reagan or Bush . . .

Keep in mind the "October Surprise" --

and Nightline every night on hostages while Bush/Gates/etal were bargaining

with Iran to keep them, until Reagan took office!

Carter was a weak president who was also a victime of right wing damage --

Ollie North and Secord were first and second in command of the rescue mission

Carter tried 2-3 times to get off the ground. All he got were downed helicopters!


As for Bush . . . if you want to discount computer steals, a GOP-fascist rally

in Miami-Dade county to stop the recounting of votes -- and finally the GOP going

to the Supreme Court to save them . . . then you will get an erroneous picture of

what actually happened.

2004 the same --

[Xenotime]

60. Was Rush on the radio when people were polled? Geez.

[w4rma]

61. The DLCers are going to cost us, big time. And I don't think they mind.

Watching the DLC screw us over and over again, pretending that their way will magically garner us votes, is like watching a train wreck in slow motion.

[newspeak]

65. This reminds me that over one hundred years ago, the two parties

were in bed together. Wheeling and dealing, and the people were left out in the cold. Corruption, nepotism was rampant. That's when the progressive populist party formed. In education, labor, they influenced the political parties. California and Wisconsin, especially was influenced by the party. Well, it looks like our two parties are at it again. Corruption? "don't worry, I've got your back." Regulation? "okay, our buddies have bilked thousands and thousands and they're pissed, so we'll soft peddle the regulation until they get over it." Now who's turn is it to be in power this time?

That's how I feel about the repugs and DLC.

[robcon]

66. I think most posters seem to think that Obama is too centrist.

I don't think that's what the poll says. Americans are not to the left of Obama.

I think the reaction is to the general anger and discontent - especially the recession. Not ideological: just 'throw the bums out' who are in charge.

[defendandprotect]

73. America is a liberal nation . . . they are to the left of Obama ...

but the left isn't out in the streets --

did you see a MEDICARE FOR ALL RALLY? Yet more than 76% of Americans supported

single payer!

What you see in the streets is the right wing -- "pro-life" murders make news --

T-baggers make news!

[Psephos]

77. You get it.

I wish you had more company.

[and-justice-for-all]

74. I do not believe gallup...nt