Quinnipiac cautioned that we are far out from the midterms, but that the GOP brand is taking a beating, “In general, the Republican brand is down as evidenced by the Democrats’ unusually large lead in the so called generic ballot. But we have 13 months before an election can translate this public opinion edge into electoral gains and in politics that amount of time is forever.”
Caveat: The beltway also bought into the Republican narrative of who was going to turn out to vote in 2012, and that is why no one objected to the obviously skewed polls. The conventional wisdom was that Obama voters had soured on him and wouldn’t turn out. But of course, the real “Obama voters” turned out in droves, and even stood in line for hours and faced numerous obstacles in order to cast their ballots.
“On almost all questions, voters see President Obama as more reasonable, and better able to handle the issues,” Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, explained. “But it is not because the president is beloved. He remains under water in job approval and is tied with Congressional Republicans on who best handles the budget deficit. Voters are angry at almost everyone in Washington over their inability to keep the trains running, but they are madder at the Republicans than the Democrats.”
In the end, when Republicans refuse to govern, their actions bring everyone’s approval ratings down. They count on this consistent result of dysfunction. However, in this shutdown, Republicans are too clearly leading the suicide bus over the cliff and they’re doing it over an issue that baffles most Americans. Even if people disagree with ObamaCare, they don’t want Republicans to shut the government down over it.