53% Think Neither Political Party Represents the American People

[grahamhgreen]

http://m.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/april_2014/53_think_neither_political_party_represents_the_american_people

Voters continue to believe Democrats have more of a plan for the future than Republicans do, but most again say neither party represents the public.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 53% of Likely U.S. Voters think it is fair to say that neither party in Congress is the party of the American people. That’s up six points from 47% last October and matches the previous high found in June 2012 during the last national election cycle. Just 28% disagree, while 19% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

But a plurality (47%) believes the Democratic Party has a plan for where it wants to take the nation. That’s up slightly from the low 40s in prior surveys back to February 2010. Thirty percent (30%) think President Obama’s party does not have a plan for the future. Twenty-three percent (23%) are undecided.

By contrast, 38% think the Republican Party has a plan for where it wants to take the nation, but slightly more (40%) disagree. Twenty-two percent (22%) are not sure. This is generally in line with past surveys. Belief that the GOP has a plan for the future jumped to a high of 54% in June 2012 but fell back to previous levels after that.

........

How did we let that happen?

[djean111]

1. And they are right. People are only represented as an aside.

[woo me with science]

2. I'm surprised it is that low.

We are well propagandized.

[Fuddnik]

10. 47% are deluded.

Maybe those were the 47% Romney fans.

[Dopers_Greed]

13. That 47%...

Thinks that their party represents the American people, I'm sure.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

3. How? Money. We let the Plutocrats take over.

The gilded age robber barons weren't as sophisticated as modern ones.

Now our entire political system is entwined and entangled in ways that incentivize politicians to cozy up to the rich, and ignore the poor.

[Orsino]

4. And 100% of those people are 85% correct. n/t

[hfojvt]

5. but what are those people going to do about it?

I certainly believe that Republicans have a plan.

But I do not consider that to be a good thing. George W. Bush actually leaked the primary purpose of their plans.

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking of ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

Hell yes they have a plan, it comes from a think tank in the bowels of hell, but they do have a plan.

[marions ghost]

22. Oh yes they have a plan

"think tank in the bowels of hell" --- right

[Puzzledtraveller]

6. by living in an echo chamber

[treestar]

7. That is an unreasonable demand

It would be a one party state and that woukd never happen naturally.

They should form 53 new parties. The Anerican Public in not "me "

[NorthCarolina]

9. Oh, they have a plan alright, Dems and Repugs. Actually, it's more of a script I think though.

[whatchamacallit]

11. This is the reality we have to deal with

Blaming voters for their apathy is pointless. They're apathetic for good reason. Party identity GOTV is nonsense. I don't care if robot zombie republicans vote without reason, we have higher standards. I hope the party leadership takes note and stops relying on fealty for votes.

[Island Deac]

12. Why not change our elections to a "Vote of Confidence?"

Every Incumbent should have to win by 60% to be re-elected. After two, four, or six years at "the people's business", you should be required to have at least 6 out of 10 of your employers think you are doing a good job. Anything less is a failure. If I were an Incumbent and couldn't reach that level I would resign. Florida has a Governor that has less than a 50% approval of those who went to vote. This after millions of dollars to brainwash and four years to show he could or couldn't do the job. I know the numbers, but I also know Failure when I see it. (And yes, Obama would not have gotten the required 60% in 2012.) I think it would make the leader be a leader. What a unique idea.

[FiveGoodMen]

18. Trouble is that the office-holders aren't making their own decisions

Unless you can vote out the money people behind them, switching front-men/women won't have much effect.

[TBF]

14. Out of a survey of 1000 people -

that number has to be higher than 53%.

[Bonhomme Richard]

15. The agenda is to do only enough to keep the people from getting pitchforks. n/t

[KingCharlemagne]

16. Well, gee, 1% of the population controls 40% of the wealth and 10% controls

80% of the wealth. The two parties are doing a great job representing the interests of that top 10%, greasing their skis and preserving their privilege(s). But the bottom 90%? Look at the turnout from Tuesday's election. Q.E.D. I voted but mainly b/c I'm a wonk wanna-be, not because I retain any illusions that either of the two bourgeois parties represent the interests of the proletariat.

[Zorra]

17. We can blame the corporate whore Third Way/New Democrats/DLC/Blue Dogs for this...

"Given the choice between a republican and a democrat who acts like a republican, the voter will choose a republican every time." Harry Truman

[FiveGoodMen]

19. Even here on this site

Blame should be placed
On the
Guilty parties

[grahamhgreen]

25. I must agree.

[DallasNE]

20. Misinformation Rules

47% believe the Democratic Party has a plan for where it wants to take the nation.
38% believe the Republican Party has a plan for where it wants to take the nation.

And this comes from a Republican polling firm.

So why did this 9 point advantage not translate into a Democratic victory? The obvious answer is that the candidates did not talk about where they wanted to take the nation so in that void misinformation ruled. Either that or too many voters are angry at having a black man in the Whitehouse so they punished the party of that "uppity negro".

[grahamhgreen]

21. It's because the young people stayed home. Obama voters who see him as a sell out to Big War, and

corporate interests.

[randys1]

26. The youth are the key, what has to happen to make politics as important to them as tweeting

or whatever it is they do these days.

[Phlem]

23. Well when you have corporate Dems acting like Republicans and

protecting the banksters instead of citizens, what's you choice?

[Blue_Tires]

24. I'd like to ask that same crowd just who they believe "the American people" are

there would probably be a lot of eye-opening responses...

[Man from Pickens]

27. That's 53% of VOTERS

big distinction

it is reasonable to conclude that a significant portion of the MAJORITY of the electorate that did not show up at the polls also believe that neither party represents the country's best interest, thus giving them no reason to show up at the polls.

Probably among all eligible voters the real figure is 75%+

[CrispyQ]

28. What am I missing?

(47%) believes the Democratic Party has a plan for where it wants to take the nation. ... Thirty percent (30%) think President Obama’s party does not have a plan for the future.

[MisterP]

29. that means the Dems have to redouble their efforts to highlight how many GOP programs they've passed

[Skidmore]

30. I would point out that those 53% likely include a range of

reasaons about what is not working for them. It does not follow that all of them would exactly agree with your assessment of what is awry. That is where these types of polls break down for me.

[Odin2005]

31. Both parties represent the Capitalist Class, not the Working Class.

And people wonder why turnout is so low.

[swilton]

32. + 1,000

Precisely, why should people turn out if the only candidates offered don't represent the interests of the majority of Amerikuns?

[bigwillq]

33. This

[LiberalElite]

35. but but but

vote or you have no voice! you can't complain if you don't vote!

[LiberalElite]

34. To be honest I haven't

felt represented by the Democratic Party since Clinton was elected and everyone ran from liberalism.

[woo me with science]

36. K&R The political system has been changed,

but we are propagandized to believe we are still operating in the old system.

We are in a post-democratic, post-partisan era of government (despite all theater and propaganda to the contrary). Both parties have been corrupted by Wall Street money and are quietly working together behind the scenes to advance Wall Street's agenda.

The real political game is not what they tell us it is. Red versus Blue is a distraction, tool, and a manipulation. They depend on us to trust in a system that doesn't exist anymore.

We need to unite on policy, not party.


Thank you for this. The people are right. The most important threads on DU right now, IMO:

(1)

Ignore Third Way diversion and spin
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025767160

(2)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025776260
(not really about Obama, but about how politics in America have changed and are not what we're told they are)

(3)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025776332
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025776965
glaring evidence for (2)