Friday, November 1, 2013

Distrust of Government Is Growing

To the degree that I am a Republican (which is not a very great degree) I am troubled by polls such as those cited in this article, showing the Republican Party in great disrepute.

To the extent that I am an opponent of Big Government (which is a very large degree), I am pleased by the same polls. What it appears is happening is that people are seeing that government is the problem, while the Big Government advocates continually try to sell it as the solution; Republicans, when in power, are as guilty of advocating for bigger government as Democrats are, and differ only in terms of which problems they try to solve via government and which solutions they prefer. As the article notes:
74 percent of Americans believe Congress is contributing to problems in Washington rather than solving them.
Related: a poll by a Democratic-aligned polling firm, Democracy Corps, and released with the title "Revolt against DC and the Republican Congress" also shows trouble for Republicans. But as even far-left Mother Jones magazine noticed, it also reveals equal or worse voter unhappiness with Democrats. The fact is, I think, that people are fed up with the Washington elite – regardless of party label.
In Democratic districts, net incumbent approval has plummeted by 11 points, from +8 approval to +3 disapproval. In Republican districts, incumbent approval has gone down only 4 points. You see the same results when they ask a question about warmth of feeling toward incumbents: It's down 7 points in Republican districts and 9 points in Democratic districts. 
This isn't good news for Democrats. It's true that attitudes toward the Republican Party have taken a bigger hit than attitudes toward the Democratic Party, but attitudes toward actual incumbents are exactly the opposite. And in elections, that's what matters.
As an aside, I think the spectacular failure of the Obamacare website and related revelations are probably feeding this anti-government mood. Perhaps a quick fix of the problems will reverse or at least ameliorate voter attitudes, though I think the real causes are deeper.

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