A new CBS/NYTimes poll has been released. While some numbers are to be expected, such as Obama’s 63% approval rating, there are other numbers that really stand out at me – particularly the publics view of bipartisanship and the Republicans. For starters, let’s look at the Republican opposition to the stimulus bill. What is the reason Americans think Republicans opposed this bill?
| Total | |
| Mostly political reasons | 63% |
| Would be bad for the economy | 29% |
So by more than a 2-1 margin the repondents felt the Republicans are playing politics. If that shouldn’t send up alarms at the GOP, then perhaps the party breakdown on this single question will
| Total | Dem | Ind | Rep | |
| Mostly political reasons | 63 | 81 | 63 | 38 |
| Would be bad for the economy | 29 | 14 | 30 | 50 |
So over 1/3 of the Republicans polled even think the Republicans are just playing games of politics. That should be alarming for a majority party, but when your party is already in the minority and that minority margin has been growing over the past two cycle, then you should be afraid.
Another interesting part of this poll hits at the very heart of Republican arguments – that the Congressional Democrats have been the party poopers in this bipartisan gala. So, who does that public think is working for bipartisanship?
| Obama | 74% |
| Congressional Democrats | 45% |
| Congressional Republicans | 31% |
So almost 3/4 of those polled thinks Obama passed the bipartisanship test, while less than 1/3 think the Republicans passed it.
It looks like the Republicans crying foul is hurting them, even in their own party. I doubt we will see them change. The Republican Party is the party of bullies, so they will keep trying to force Americans into believing they are right, instead of conforming to the will of the nation. This should help secure them a future as the minority party.
(Poll source – PDF file)