Unpopular parties can still prevail

[n2doc]

By Steve Benen


U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the Justice Department, on Jan. 17, 2014 in Washington, DC.
The latest New York Times/CBS News poll offers Democrats some good news and some bad news. It’s worth pausing to appreciate how the former affects the latter.

First, consider the news Dems will be eager to hear. The public generally agrees with Democrats on the major issues of the day – immigration, minimum wage, health care, and marriage equality – and on more general topics such as compromise, economic inequality, how best to reduce the deficit, and the value of social-insurance programs like Medicare and Social Security. The same poll found Democrats are more popular than Republicans and more in line with voters’ priorities.

Then consider the news Democrats won’t like at all:

Those stances among voters have not translated into support for the president’s party, as 42 percent say they will back Republicans in November, and 39 percent indicate that they will back Democrats, a difference within the poll’s margin of sampling error.

I imagine Democratic officials would find this quite frustrating. They enjoy the edge on pretty much every possible question, right up until poll respondents were asked who they intend to vote for – and the answer is, the more unpopular party, which the mainstream disagrees with on nearly everything, is the one with more support.

Of course, it leads to a fairly obvious question: if Republicans are more unpopular; voters disagree with them on nearly everything; the GOP has no accomplishments or agenda to speak of; and they’re responsible for the ridiculous government shutdown just a few months ago, how is it that they have the edge over Democrats when it comes to the midterm elections?

more

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/unpopular-parties-can-still-prevail

[Lasher]

1. This assumes that voters trust Democrats to support these important issues.

I see that as a flaw in the argument.