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Poll: American Public Wary
By Joe Murray, The Bulletin
‘Tis the season to be jolly … or not so much as a wary American public adjusts to a souring economy, an America whose best days could be behind her and an auto industry on bended knee.
A new poll released yesterday by CNN/Opinion Research Corporation found a whopping 93 percent believed U.S. economic conditions were poor. Only 7 percent responded the economy was in good shape.
The CNN poll supported the findings of Rasmussen Reports poll released Monday showing 40 percent of Americans believe that the country’s best days are in front of it. Forty-five percent believed America’s best days are behind it, and 16 percent remain undecided.
Not surprisingly, Republicans are more pessimistic about the future. After losing the White House to Barack Obama, stymied with eight years of the Bush administration and facing a minority status in both houses of Congress, Republicans are facing a few years in the political wilderness.
Just about 33 percent of Republicans and unaffiliated voters held onto the belief America’s best days are in front of her, compared to 51 percent of Democrats. And with the nation electing the first black president in history, 61 percent of blacks are more optimistic about America’s future and only 36 percent of whites felt the same.
And with the U.S. public feeling the credit crunch — just 21 percent told Rasmussen they have more credit today than they did a year ago — sympathies towards bailouts continue to be allusive.
According to Rasmussen, a 49 percent plurality of Americans oppose the bailout of Detroit, while just 38 percent were in favor of President George W. Bush’s decision to aid the ailing Big Three automakers. Thirteen percent remain undecided.
Those talking to CNN pollsters were a little more tolerable of the plights each one of the Big Three auto manufacturers — General Motors, Ford and Chrysler — face.
Sixty-three percent of those responding to the CNN poll supported the roughly $13-billion bailout, while 37 percent thought the Mr. Bush’s decision was a bad move. But American generosity towards the Big Three is on a short leash, as only 28 percent of those surveyed said they would support additional bailout funds heading to the Motor City.
“One reason for that: only 15 percent say that the country would face a crisis if the automakers went bankrupt, and half say that would not cause any problems for them personally at all. But most say that the country would face major problems if the auto companies were in bankruptcy,” CNN Polling Director Keating Holland told the news outlet.
Rasmussen found similar results as 40 percent responded it was better to let the companies fail than it was to provide subsidies to keep them afloat. Thirty-eight percent, however, believed subsidies were favorable to bankruptcy and 22 percent remained undecided.
Without the bailout loans GM and Chrysler stand poised to run out of cash by early to mid-2009, while Ford has stated it could survive until the end of 2009. The $13.4 billion loan package will reach GM and Chrysler by mid-January and the money is being taken from the $700 billion bailout package for the nation’s financial sector.
And with the economy viewed as unstable and Americans pessimistic about the future, it should come as no surprise that the current administration and Congress are earning poor marks.
Congress took yet another hit from the public with its approval rating dropping into single digits. Just 9 percent of Americans believe Congress is doing an excellent (2 percent) or good (7 percent) job, while a 89 percent believe lawmakers are doing a fair (35 percent) or poor (54 percent) job.
Vice President Dick Cheney is also taking a beating from the public as CNN pollsters found one out of five Americans believe Mr. Cheney is the worst vice president in U.S. history. Forty-one percent responded Mr. Cheney was a poor vice president, while 34 percent felt he did a good job. Only one percent rated him as excellent.
The vice president did well with Republicans, but outside his base roughly 60 percent of Independents, and 80 percent of Democrats said he was either “poor” or “worst ever.”
As for Mr. Bush, Gallup had his job approval rating at 29 percent. The low mark continued a 27-month streak of garnishing approval ratings under 40 percent.
Joe Murray can be reached at jmurray@thebulletin.us
A new poll released yesterday by CNN/Opinion Research Corporation found a whopping 93 percent believed U.S. economic conditions were poor. Only 7 percent responded the economy was in good shape.
The CNN poll supported the findings of Rasmussen Reports poll released Monday showing 40 percent of Americans believe that the country’s best days are in front of it. Forty-five percent believed America’s best days are behind it, and 16 percent remain undecided.
Not surprisingly, Republicans are more pessimistic about the future. After losing the White House to Barack Obama, stymied with eight years of the Bush administration and facing a minority status in both houses of Congress, Republicans are facing a few years in the political wilderness.
Just about 33 percent of Republicans and unaffiliated voters held onto the belief America’s best days are in front of her, compared to 51 percent of Democrats. And with the nation electing the first black president in history, 61 percent of blacks are more optimistic about America’s future and only 36 percent of whites felt the same.
And with the U.S. public feeling the credit crunch — just 21 percent told Rasmussen they have more credit today than they did a year ago — sympathies towards bailouts continue to be allusive.
According to Rasmussen, a 49 percent plurality of Americans oppose the bailout of Detroit, while just 38 percent were in favor of President George W. Bush’s decision to aid the ailing Big Three automakers. Thirteen percent remain undecided.
Those talking to CNN pollsters were a little more tolerable of the plights each one of the Big Three auto manufacturers — General Motors, Ford and Chrysler — face.
Sixty-three percent of those responding to the CNN poll supported the roughly $13-billion bailout, while 37 percent thought the Mr. Bush’s decision was a bad move. But American generosity towards the Big Three is on a short leash, as only 28 percent of those surveyed said they would support additional bailout funds heading to the Motor City.
“One reason for that: only 15 percent say that the country would face a crisis if the automakers went bankrupt, and half say that would not cause any problems for them personally at all. But most say that the country would face major problems if the auto companies were in bankruptcy,” CNN Polling Director Keating Holland told the news outlet.
Rasmussen found similar results as 40 percent responded it was better to let the companies fail than it was to provide subsidies to keep them afloat. Thirty-eight percent, however, believed subsidies were favorable to bankruptcy and 22 percent remained undecided.
Without the bailout loans GM and Chrysler stand poised to run out of cash by early to mid-2009, while Ford has stated it could survive until the end of 2009. The $13.4 billion loan package will reach GM and Chrysler by mid-January and the money is being taken from the $700 billion bailout package for the nation’s financial sector.
And with the economy viewed as unstable and Americans pessimistic about the future, it should come as no surprise that the current administration and Congress are earning poor marks.
Congress took yet another hit from the public with its approval rating dropping into single digits. Just 9 percent of Americans believe Congress is doing an excellent (2 percent) or good (7 percent) job, while a 89 percent believe lawmakers are doing a fair (35 percent) or poor (54 percent) job.
Vice President Dick Cheney is also taking a beating from the public as CNN pollsters found one out of five Americans believe Mr. Cheney is the worst vice president in U.S. history. Forty-one percent responded Mr. Cheney was a poor vice president, while 34 percent felt he did a good job. Only one percent rated him as excellent.
The vice president did well with Republicans, but outside his base roughly 60 percent of Independents, and 80 percent of Democrats said he was either “poor” or “worst ever.”
As for Mr. Bush, Gallup had his job approval rating at 29 percent. The low mark continued a 27-month streak of garnishing approval ratings under 40 percent.
Joe Murray can be reached at jmurray@thebulletin.us
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