FEATURED CONTENT | | November 19, 2010
2010 was a voter revolt against Democratic governance during an economic and jobs crisis. Above all, voters were frustrated with the lack of progress on unemployment, the seeming ineffectiveness of the president’s policies, a shortage of sustained focus on economic issues, and the absence of a vision or message showing voters where the president and [...]
-- Delivered by Feed43 service
View More Strategy and Research
2010 was a voter revolt against Democratic governance during an economic and jobs crisis. Above all, voters were frustrated with the lack of progress on unemployment, the seeming ineffectiveness of the president’s policies, a shortage of sustained focus on economic issues, and the absence of a vision or message showing voters where the president and [...]
November 2nd was a very bad day for Democrats – indeed, the worst since November 8, 1994 when Democrats lost their four-decade hold on the House of Representatives, control of the US Senate and 472 state legislative seats across the country. Newt Gingrich and his new majorities were triumphant. I was polling then for President [...]
Republicans should not misread the mandate and the changes that came out of this big election. This post-election survey conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner for Democracy Corps and the Campaign for America’s Future digs deeply into what produced this historic result and voters’ priorities in the critical period ahead.
View More Focus Groups
Voter reaction to the president’s economic discussion in the State of the Union shows that Democrats have a lot to learn about their economic narrative in the coming year. Voters responded very positively to the president’s turn to jobs as priority number one for the next year, but they responded differently to politicians talking about progress and success. With the economy growing at its fastest pace in six years and wages growing at their slowest in the past quarter-century, there is a growing gap that makes the communication about the economy harder, not easier.
In his first State of the Union address tonight, Barack Obama demonstrated a clear understanding of the problems facing the country and outlined a path forward that swing voters want to see their members of Congress follow. Especially in his understanding of the economic challenges we face, his aggressive stance on financial reform and bringing accountability to Wall Street, and his commitment to fighting for solutions to the country’s problems, the president dispelled many doubts that had clouded attitudes toward him and rallied swing voters to his agenda for change. The challenge remains whether he can convince a visibly recalcitrant and divided Congress to act.
The self-identifying conservative Republicans who make up the base of the Republican Party stand a world apart from the rest of America, according to focus groups conducted by Democracy Corps. These base Republican voters dislike Barack Obama to be sure – which is not very surprising as base Democrats had few positive things to say about George Bush – but these voters identify themselves as part of a ‘mocked’ minority with a set of shared beliefs and knowledge, and commitment to oppose Obama that sets them apart from the majority in the country.
Click here to see Democracy Corps Senior Adviser Karl Agne discussing the report on MSNBC Morning Meeting on October 19.
Subscribe