Assessing the GOP brand

http://www.pollster.com/blogs/assessing_the_gop_brand.php
How weak is the Republican brand right now? This issue came up yesterday when a Media Matters criticized The Hill for failing to mention the GOP's poor polling numbers in a story on the 2010 elections. Similarly, I recently suggested that that the damaged Republican brand might limit the number of seats that the party picks up. But is the party really worse off than previous opposition parties at this point in the election cycle?

As a first cut at the question, I pulled all the relevant polling on approval of the party in Congresss and party favorability from the Roper iPoll database for the periods leading up to the four most recent midterms (1994, 1998, 2002, and 2006). In both cases, the results are consistent, but I'll focus on the favorability questions since Pew and CBS asked comparable questions about party favorables in each cycle.*

The overall finding is simple -- the GOP's standing relative to the Democrats on both measures is worse than any opposition party in the sample. For instance, the Pew data show that the Republicans are currently viewed more negatively than any minority party in the previous four midterms in terms of both net favorables and the difference in net favorables between parties:**

Public Says Voice Not Heard on Health Care

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3
A new poll by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard school of Public Health says while lawmakers bicker and deal, the public feels largely shut out. Despite public support, the Senate Finance Committee voted down the public option Tuesday.

Findings on Health Care Debate

http://people-press.org/report/544/
Health Care Debate Seen as "Rude and Disrespectful"

"According to a poll released last week by the Pew Research Center, most Americans think that the health care debate has been 'rude and disrespectful' and most of those who hold this view blame the opponents of the proposed legislation."

some more tidbits:

"According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll published on Wednesday, a plurality of respondents said that if health care reform fails, the Republicans will be at fault. Those who disapproved of the way that Republicans are handling the health care debate outnumbered those who approved of their behavior by a margin of more than 3 to 1.":

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/09/22/wsjnbc-news-poll-gop-to-blame-if-health-care-bill-fails/

In addition, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll released on Thursday, more people said Republican opposition to Obama’s health care proposals is politically motivated than those who said that Democratic support of them is politically motivated.

FUCK the Goober twats!

Sorry, Governor, New Yorkers Say They're Ready For Change

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/polltracker/2009/09/ny-gov.html
They want what Obama wants... Paterson GONE!

Ezra Klein - Americans Hate Everyone, Believe Everything

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/08/americans_hate_everyone_believ.html
Ezra Klein - Americans Hate Everyone, Believe Everything

It's not so much that the American people have turned against Obama's health-care reform effort as they've turned against the legislative process in general.

*sigh*