Gallup Poll: Americans seriously questioning Democratic Party's ability to foster prosperity

[Better Believe It]

Obama’s Tenure Cost Democrats Edge in Which Party Can Bring Prosperity
By: Jon Walker
September 30, 2011

Under President Obama’s tenure official unemployment rose to around 9 percent and has stayed there for roughly 28 months. Not surprisingly, years of persistently bad economic conditions while the country was lead by a Democratic president (who had a Congress controlled by Democrats for two years) leaves Americans seriously questioning the Democratic Party’s ability to foster prosperity in this country. From Gallup:



I seriously doubt Americans are starting to think Republican economic ideas sound really smart. What we are probably seeing is that after years of Obama failing to right the ship, the American people have concluded the Democrats don’t know what they are doing; so compared to proven failure any alternative starts looking better.

This is the devastating political implication of a too small stimulus that was terribly oversold. The Obama team told the American people that if the American Recovery Act passed, unemployment wouldn’t go to 9 percent; the law was passed and unemployment still went to 9 percent — and stayed there. It is only natural that after this huge blunder, followed by the equally huge blunder of passing a health care reform bill that did little to expand coverage right away to those suffering in the downturn, that the American people question the Democratic Party’s competence when it comes to economic matters.

http://elections.firedoglake.com/2011/09/30/obamas-tenure-cost-democrats-edge-in-which-party-can-bring-prosperity/


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September 30, 2011

Americans Give GOP Edge in Handling Nation's Problems
Majority see need for third party
by Frank Newport

This story is part of an ongoing series on Gallup.com on Americans' views on the role and performance of government.

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans see the Republican Party as better able than the Democratic Party to protect the country from terrorism and military threats, and to keep the country prosperous over the next few years.





Read the complete poll article at:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/149783/Americans-Give-GOP-Edge-Handling-Nation-Problems.aspx

[TheWraith]

1. FireDogLake continues their crusade to elect Republicans to every available office.

I still wonder why we allow them as a source, or treat them as an in any way "left wing" site, when their 24/7 message is "DEMOCRATS ARE A FAILURE. NEVER SUPPORT THEM."

[Ikonoklast]

13. Hamsher and Andy Stern, ex SEIU head, dated for two years.

They broke up in 2008, or '09.

Hamsher's ODS ramped up around then.

Stern still supports Obama.

Read into that what you will.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. Politicians make the mistake that they run the economy. When it's really the other way around.

Politicians react to the economy not run it, or even have much influence on it. And, what influence they have on it usually screws it up worse.

[Warpy]

3. If Obama really wants a mandate in 2012, he's got to pledge to dump Geithner

and the rest of those Golden Sacks economy fuckers.

Otherwise, it'll be an anemic victory and only because the Republicans are crazy.

What we need to do is make sure everybody we know is voting out the teabaggers, Republican obstructionists, Grover Norquist robots, and other conservative drones. A Congress significantly to the left will push Obama farther left.

[TheWraith]

9. Repeating the Geithner/Goldman Sachs myth, again?

One more time: Geithner did not work at Goldman Sachs, or any other Wall Street investment bank. Never did. The continuing myth that he did is about as accurate as claiming Obama was born in Kenya.

[girl gone mad]

12. Geithner didn't work at Goldman Sachs..

but he most certainly has worked for them.

[Bobbie Jo]

4. Unrec.

[AndyTiedye]

5. The Republicans Have Been Obstructing Most Efforts to Revive the Economy

Looks like their strategy is working.

Of course, the only reason it can work is that the media is constantly shifting the blame to Obama and the Democrats.

[girl gone mad]

6. What's really interesting to me..

is that Republicans talk about balancing budgets, but once in power they usually run up the deficit. If that pattern were to be repeated, the economy would start to recover under a Republican President.

In working so hard to counter the 'big spender' label that Democrats are persistently saddled with, Obama has needlessly (and dangerously) focused on deficit reduction.

I guess it's ironic. Democrats are supposed to be the party of Keynes, but they are too cowed to spend as needed. Republicans are supposed to be fiscally conservative, but they are never afraid to pump up the economy through government spending.

[Tarheel_Dem]

7. Ugh. More shit from the NorquistDogLake crapper.

:eyes:

[tularetom]

8. The Democrats weren't able to understand why they made such large gains

in 2006 and 2008. Those were years of significant Democratic progress in congress and the White House, but apparently our elected Democrats misinterpreted why they did so well in those years.

People were simply fed up with Republican policies of borrowing, wasting money on wars, cutting taxes for bazillionaires, and gutting safety regulations and domestic programs.

When the Democrats essentially did nothing to reverse those policies, the public began to realize that they weren't a huge improvement over the republicans.

Now the prevailing mood is cynicism, or it doesn't really matter who we elect we'll get fucked either way.

[Autumn]

10. We can't foster prosperity when the republicans

get to decide what we can put forward.

[Edweird]

11. Well, duh. "Hope and change" became "more of the same" right out of the gate.

Those people on Wall street aren't there to sing Obama's praises - they are there to do what Obama has refused to do.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

14. This does not surprise me at all. Obama now owns it. He is in

a intractable situation. But, no matter what the reason....Obama will
still be blamed, along with the Dems because he is one. It's not
fair but it's true. Most people don't know all the nuances - they
just know there's a Dem president and the economy's fucked up.

[krispos42]

15. Well, I certainly don't doubt the Republican party's ability to foster prosperity.

They have no such ability. None. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Naught.


So the only party LEFT to doubt is us!

[Name removed]

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