national poll

At the annual Democratic Party meeting there should be a mandatory seminar on communication. Not properly communicating has cost the Democrats dearly. It was a big nail in the coffin on health care. People couldn’t understand things like “health exchanges” or “public option”. Even the one simple word left a bad feeling with voters - “mandates”. Democrats tried to make mandates sound like a good thing, but you can’t change how people feel when hearing that word.

Now we are seeing the failures of communication spread beyond healthcare:

Nearly three out of four Americans think that at least half of the money spent in the federal stimulus plan has been wasted, according to a new national poll.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday morning also indicates that 63 percent of the public feels that projects in the plan were included for purely political reasons and will have no economic benefit, with 36 percent saying those projects will benefit the economy.

Twenty-one percent of people questioned in the poll say nearly all the money in the stimulus has been wasted, with 24 percent feeling that most money has been wasted and another 29 percent saying that about half has been wasted. Twenty-one percent say that only a little has been wasted and 4 percent feel that no stimulus dollars have been wasted.

Again the Republicans took advantage here. They used key phrases like “government welfare” and that strikes anger in voters, while Democrats go out and get to technical trying to defend the stimulus.

American’s understand catch phrases better than anything. Look at “death panels”. It was a flat out lie, but because it was such a small and catchy phrase, it ended up causing damage.

Image via Wikipedia

We knew that it was only a matter of time before the public shifted the blame of the economic mess from Republicans to Democrats and that time has come:

Nearly two years into the recession, opinion about which political party is responsible for the severe economic downturn is shifting, according to a new national poll.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday morning indicates that 38 percent of the public blames Republicans for the country's current economic problems. That's down 15 points from May, when 53 percent blamed the GOP. According to the poll 27 percent now blame the Democrats for the recession, up 6 points from May. Twenty-seven percent now say both parties are responsible for the economic mess.

The problem is that America isn’t seeing any improvement in the economy. Sure Congress and the White House can point to Wall Street, but that doesn’t mean a damn thing to the average citizen, who is out of work. It’s the common disconnect that occurs between Washington and Main Street USA.

Please let it be. That would make our life so much easier and much more fun:

A majority of likely voters in a new Washington Post-ABC News national poll now have unfavorable views of the Alaska governor, most still doubt her presidential qualifications and there is an even split on whether she "gets it," a perception that had been a key component of her initial appeal.

Palin's addition to the GOP ticket initially helped McCain narrow the gap with Obama on the question of which presidential hopeful "better understands the problems of people like you," but at 18 percentage points, the Democrat's margin on that question is now as big as it has been all fall. Nor has Palin attracted female voters to McCain, as his campaign had hoped.

It's hilarious hearing the GOP talking heads try to put her up on this pedestal as though she is some super star. Sure she brings in big crowds for the GOP, but she is just attracting the base - nothing more. America doesn't like her and she cost John McCain his chance at the White House.

Zogby has a new poll out that has Obama beating Clinton 45-41%. With 370 delegates up for grabs, California could end up becoming a wash (in other words the winner coming out with only a handful more delegates than the loser).

Pew also has a new national poll out, which has Obama trailing 38-46%. There is good news in this poll for Obama, however. Clinton has remained solid at 46% since December, but Obama has gone from 26% to 38% in that time. That means Obama is picking up a lot of support from Edwards' people, as well as other candidates that have come and gone.

Finally Rasmussen has a poll out showing Clinton beating Obama 49-38%. What's even more interesting is that this poll is showing Clinton opening up the lead.