… Voters are not saying to officeholders, “Do something about the debt! Anything! Raise taxes! Cut entitlement spending! Do whatever it takes to get this problem solved. Or else we’ll throw you out of office!” What officeholders hear from voters instead is: “Don’t you dare raise my taxes. Or cut […] Read more »
Very Conservative Americans Least Likely to Want Fiscal Cliff Compromise
Gallup asked Americans the following question on four successive weekends from Dec. 1-Dec. 22 — for a total sample size of 4,170 randomly selected national adults: What would you like to see government leaders in Washington do in the fiscal cliff negotiations — [ROTATED: stick to their principles and beliefs […] Read more »
A simple lesson from the fiscal cliff
Gallup has new numbers out today on the fiscal cliff. … The most striking of these is how bad the numbers for Republicans are, both for Speaker Boehner (26% approve of his handling) and for Republican leaders overall (26%). Striking, but not surprising. [cont.] Bryon Allen, WPA Opinion Research Read more »
Americans’ Optimism Wanes About Averting ‘Fiscal Cliff’
Americans’ optimism that President Barack Obama and congressional leaders will reach a budget agreement before Jan. 1 has waned somewhat over the past week. Fifty percent now believe this and 48% are doubtful, a change from the previous three weeks, when the solid majority of Americans were generally confident leaders […] Read more »
A Role Reversal: Dems Grow More Unified While Cracks Form in the GOP
The endgame over the fiscal cliff, like the first stirrings of debate about gun control and immigration, all capture a subtle but potentially consequential shift in the Washington dynamic. On each front, Democrats are growing more unified while Republicans and conservatives are displaying increasing cracks. That inverts the alignment through […] Read more »
How the Fiscal Cliff Battle Is Really Just a Battle of Demographics
Washington’s battle over the fiscal cliff is best understood as a confrontation not only between Democrats and Republicans, but also as an early skirmish in what could be a decades-long struggle for resources and influence between the Brown and the Gray. That’s a phrase I’ve coined, drawing on the work […] Read more »