Deal or no deal: Do voters want their representatives to compromise?

What is the lesson of the 2014 election and what does it portend about gridlock for the next two years? Based on 10,842 responses to online interviews conducted by NBC News through SurveyMonkey in the two days following Election Day, we can characterize the mood of the country and what it suggests, both about what we may observe over the next two years, and in the soon-to-convene 114th Congress. …

Among the 32% of the sample who identified as Democrats, nearly 62% wanted their members of Congress to work with Republicans. Among the 32% of the sample who called themselves a Republican, that percentage was only 34% – 66% of the Republican voters polled wanted their members to stick to their positions rather than compromise with Democrats.

This stark difference is important because while Democrats want Congress to work together to get things done, the vast majority of Republicans do not. So, if the Republicans in the House and Senate listen to their base, we will see two more years of gridlock and a hardening of partisan positions. CONT.

Josh Clinton (Vanderbilt), Jon Cohen (SurveyMonkey), John Lapinski (NBC News)

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