CNN poll finds — surprise!! — a divided country
CNN released a new poll last week with some interesting numbers. For example, pollsters asked whether it would be good or bad for the country that Republicans will control the U.S. House of Representatives: 51 percent said it will be good, 42 percent said it will be bad.
That would seem to be pretty good news for the GOP. However, CNN also asked a similar question in 2006, when Democrats took over the House. Four years ago, 67 percent said the Democratic takeover would be good for the country, and only 24 percent said it would be bad. So voters are a lot less optimistic about the impact of GOP control.
But that’s just liberal CNN, right? Well, not quite. It turns out that CNN also asked that question after the 1994 takeover of the House by Newt Gingrich and the Republicans. In that poll, 50 percent of Americans said the GOP takeover would be good for the country, while just 26 percent said it would be bad.
So it seems that House Republicans in 2011 face an unusual amount of public skepticism about their leadership.
The latest CNN poll also asked voters whether they hoped President Obama’s policies would succeed or fail. Overall, 61 percent said they hoped his policies would succeed; 27 percent admitted they hoped his policies failed. The breakdown by party affiliation was stark:
Republicans are rooting against Obama’s success (27/61 percent) while the country as a whole is rooting for him by an identical margin (61/27 percent). (The breakdown by region was also interesting. The percentage hoping that Obama’s policies would work was by far lowest in the South (52 percent).)
That raises an obvious question: How do Republican hopes for an Obama failure compare to Democratic hopes for a failure by President Bush? I dug around a bit, and discovered that in August 2006, Fox News pollsters had asked that very question.
Survey says:
– Jay Bookman
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489 comments Add your comment
Mick
December 30th, 2010
10:18 pm
del
If its not the hardest job in the world, then what is?
Del
December 30th, 2010
10:19 pm
Sanitation workers in New York. Great, now unemployed former 7 figure professionals have a place to go. Now it needs to be kept a secret or we’ll see H1B workers along with illegals grabbing those jobs up.
josef nix
December 30th, 2010
10:20 pm
Hillbilly
I agree with you on both points…the military draft should be a last ditch resort…and the contractor for national defense just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me (not speaking of materiel here)…
Del
December 30th, 2010
10:23 pm
mick,
I’d have to say a combat infantryman having to serve multiple gig’s in Afghanistan. It’s among the most life threatening jobs too.
Mick
December 30th, 2010
10:23 pm
You southern boys know nothing about sanitation in NYC. Over 9 million people living together, thats a lot of garbage to be moved..
Del
December 30th, 2010
10:24 pm
mick,
P.S. it doesn’t pay very much either.
Mick
December 30th, 2010
10:26 pm
del
Apples and oranges. I agree infantryman is a tough slog but the mental stress of the presidency plus all your enemies foreign and domestic coming at you six ways from sunday 24/7. The stress must be humbling.
Del
December 30th, 2010
10:26 pm
Sanitation workers motto, It may be $hit to you but it’s our bread and butter.
josef nix
December 30th, 2010
10:28 pm
Mick
Which is one of the reasons I live here and not there! And as far as sanitation workers are concerned, no matter where, they deserve every cent they get and then some…
Mick
December 30th, 2010
10:28 pm
Sanitation removal in jersey and new york is quite an interesting racket, always has been. Many a fortune has been made unloading that shiite in most creative ways.
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
10:30 pm
Well the cost of living in NY eats up most of that starting salary
Mick
December 30th, 2010
10:30 pm
josef
Georgia is a pretty cool place to nest…but mick’s old man keeps saying go west not so young man and seek out thy fortune and fame…
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
10:32 pm
Yep, just check out what washes up on the Jersey shore
Mick
December 30th, 2010
10:33 pm
common sense
The unions up north are a tight brotherhood, they are not perfect but they insist on decent pay, good health benefits, and overtime – they should be ashamed of that?
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
10:33 pm
Mick – did he mean Alabama? LOL
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
10:34 pm
They do a wonderful job in NYC. now the subway could use a spring cleaning LOL
Mick
December 30th, 2010
10:35 pm
No, places like wyoming, montana or oregon. California is off the list, I don’t do earthquakes.
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
10:36 pm
I was in NY in 2004 and down in the financial district it was very clean even with all of the tourists coming to visit the site of the towers.
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 30th, 2010
10:37 pm
And along those same lines, how does that reflect on the US when the contractors cross the line?
It reflects very poorly on us.
On sanitation workers in NYC:
I’ll be the first to admit I know little about it. I do know that sanitation workers are a lot like plumbers; get rid of them, especially in big cities, and you’d soon find disease rampant.
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
10:38 pm
wyoming, montana? you think those iguanas got cold
Scout
December 30th, 2010
10:39 pm
Del:
I would narrow it down even more.
“2nd Ammo Humper on a Machine Gun Team”
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
10:40 pm
I was in DC in Jan 1999 when 12 inches of snow fell.
The mayor came on TV and told everybody that until the roads got plowed the sanitation workers would not be picking up. (they doubled as the snowplow drivers)
josef nix
December 30th, 2010
10:42 pm
Mick
Georgia has been good for us, no doubt, and I do love it. I like the west, too, especially the Pacific Northwest and there’s probably more opportunity there. Of course, I’m looking at retirement now and the tarpaper shotgun with a tin roof on the bayou sure looks good!
Mick
December 30th, 2010
10:42 pm
I guess that the great thing about the US, up north unions are accepted. Down south they are reviled. Out west its 50-50. Just find a place that works for you…
Scout
December 30th, 2010
10:43 pm
Mick:
I really don’t know who right now. It’s too early.
But I would like to see a fiscal, societal, foreign policy and political conservative who believes the Constitution says what it means “and” means what it says and who will appoint likeminded judges all the way up through the ranks. Also, someone who has the “basic” moral integrity to be faithful to his/her spouse.
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
10:46 pm
josef nix
I saw an article today that said that the Houma Indians are still afraid to eat the seafood.
I thought that was so sad that their way of life and food source has been so disrupted
Mick
December 30th, 2010
10:47 pm
josef
I’m a florida boy now, been here for over forty years and there’s no where else on earth I’d rather be from now until early may. The summers are too humid and hot so my goal is to get some land out west and build a home for cash with no mortgage. Hillbilly, I’m gonna follow in your footsteps in that regard..
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
10:48 pm
Scout – not many of those around in either party sad to say
Scout
December 30th, 2010
10:49 pm
WOW ! What an ending to the N.C. vs. Tennessee game !
josef nix
December 30th, 2010
10:49 pm
Wyoming? Unmentionable’s solution to world peace is to plop the factions down in southern Wyoming…if they still want to fight after that…look, when the next town on the freeway sign is three digits away and the first digit is a two, you’re in the middle of nowhere! Now, there are some beautiful spots and the people, all 12 of them, are really some nice folks…Montana? Just too d*mned cold for me, but from what I hear from folks there, really is a taking off place…
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
10:50 pm
Mick – they just sold the unabombers cabin. It would have been perfect LOL
Mick
December 30th, 2010
10:50 pm
scout@10:43
So, who among our fellow americans out there fits your bill?
Mick
December 30th, 2010
10:51 pm
common
Yeah, that place was a dump. If I couldn’t build something more cozy than that, I’d stop dreaming…
Bosch
December 30th, 2010
10:52 pm
Scout,
For real! I’m not even a football person and I’m pretty into that game. I finally got off my honey-dew list to sit down and watch a little.
josef,
If school doesn’t start back soon, I’m going to have to be hospitalized from exhaustion. With the fam home, i.e. the other Bosch — I’ve been working WAY too hard……I want to go back to just doing my job and blogging!!!
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
10:53 pm
I worked with a guy who built in Montana (inheirted lots o money). The pictures were beautiful but he came south to work most of the year. Like Mick said spend the summers there the winters in the south.
Scout
December 30th, 2010
10:54 pm
Bosch:
Never give up ! That’s one for the record books.
Haven’t seen you in awhile. Hope all is well for the new year.
Mick
December 30th, 2010
10:54 pm
bosch
I don’t think I’ve ever seen you on this late…finding it increasingly harder to watch sports on tv.
Scout
December 30th, 2010
10:54 pm
Mick:
Right now?
Huckabee
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
10:55 pm
Bosch – find an empty closet till next week LOL
josef nix
December 30th, 2010
10:56 pm
Mick
You might want to check out New Mexico the area around, not IN, Albuquerque is really beautiful and the weather is pretty nice most of the time…fascinating culture, too…
Common…
A lot of people down that way are…it’s sad in so many ways…
Mick
December 30th, 2010
10:57 pm
scout
I like huckabee, he would be a formidable opponent if the economy is in the dumper in 2012.
Mick
December 30th, 2010
10:59 pm
josef
New mexico is definately on the list. I will have a second home out west..
josef nix
December 30th, 2010
10:59 pm
Bosch…
I’ve had a ball blogging…work on the other screen, but can sit here jammering in my jammies and drinking coffee…I am beginning to miss the little b*ggers, though!
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
11:00 pm
fascinating culture, too…
you talking about Vegas? LOL
30 miles outside Vegas you wouldn’t even know it was there. Carved out of nothing
Scout
December 30th, 2010
11:01 pm
Mick:
I left one qualification out.
The person should be “presidential”.
Scout
December 30th, 2010
11:02 pm
P.S.
That means they should act, walk, talk, dress and behave like an American President should.
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
11:05 pm
If you add brass balls then you would have Hillary LOL
Mick
December 30th, 2010
11:05 pm
scout
In my lifetime, the most “presidential” president was reagan. He really was a good man and his communication skills were great. A great deal of that job is acting, he was the best..
josef nix
December 30th, 2010
11:07 pm
Mick
Since it’s summers and second home you’re talking about…you want cool and spectacular scenery, the Nortwest can’t be beat…G-d was in a good mood when H- created that little corner of the world…
Bosch
December 30th, 2010
11:08 pm
“Haven’t seen you in awhile. Hope all is well for the new year.”
That would be because the fam is home and we are doing the holiday, honeydew list of all things that need to be done. I’m exhausted.
Mick,
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you on this late”
Yeah, I’m usually a day person because I blog when alone, but I’m trying to feed my addiction. I’m just hoping the other Bosch doesn’t walk in the room, yell at me for blogging, and punishes me by making me scrub something else. Good Lord.
Common Sense,
“Bosch – find an empty closet till next week LOL”
I found about three of those earlier because I pulled all the stuff out, cleaned it, sorted it, hauled most of it to GoodWill, put stuff into categories, put up organizers, and then put all the stuff back. Right now, empty closets scare me.
josef,
I’m jealous. I wasn’t ignoring you earlier about Anderson Cooper — I find him much more interesting in the fact that he is Gloria Vanderbilt’s son than him being gay – cause you know, back in the day those girls in GV jeans certainly got my attention. Those swans act similarly to Pavlov’s dogs.
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
11:08 pm
I would agree about reagan.
I didn’t agree with him about everything, but he explained where he was coming from anyway
josef nix
December 30th, 2010
11:10 pm
common
And you can get some good deals on property in Nevada these days…!
Bosch
December 30th, 2010
11:11 pm
I will add this before I go back to watching the game and drinking….
Americans have too much stuff.
Mick
December 30th, 2010
11:13 pm
On the flip side of that, jimmy carter was an annoying president. How could the commander of a nuclear submarine be such a disappointment? He is a great man in private life however, probably the greatest ex-president ever..
Mick
December 30th, 2010
11:14 pm
bosch
Carlin did a great routine on “stuff”, sad but very true…
Mick
December 30th, 2010
11:16 pm
bosch
got it-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
11:17 pm
We are definitely a consumer society. The problem is after we consume we put it in the closet LOL
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
11:18 pm
I think I was most annoyed with Carter about the yoyos he brought from Ga to the WH (Bert Lance LOL)
josef nix
December 30th, 2010
11:21 pm
BOSCH
Did I link you to this? Being GV’s son is interesting to me and so is his dad being from Meridian, Mississippi…why he took Katrina so “personally…”
Yeah, I think I can understand the jeans thingie…AC’s T-shirts continue a fine family tradition…
http://stupidcelebrities.net/2010/02/04/anderson-cooper-boyfriend-ben-maisani-to-adopt-child-from-haiti/
Bosch
December 30th, 2010
11:22 pm
Thanks Mick – I was thinking of Carlin when I wrote that. I will watch it when I’ve drank more. Good thing about Christmas, lots of my friends find the need to come by and bring bottles of booze, it keeps me stocked ’til around MLK day!
It is true, isn’t it. I think a major design flaw of the modern American home is built in closets. We just throw crap in there and forget about it — it is very sad to go through all that junk and realize how much stuff you have — but the good thing is, invariably you find something that your kids made, or a friend gave you, or in my case, something with your mom’s handwriting on it telling you to not forget something (my mom passed this summer) and it makes you smile.
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
11:26 pm
Damn Bosch when was the last time you really cleaned out those closets LOL
Bosch
December 30th, 2010
11:27 pm
josef,
“and so is his dad being from Meridian, Mississippi…why he took Katrina so “personally…”
No, you didn’t — and no, I didn’t know his dad was from Meridian. I really hope for Cooper that people do not start dwelling on his being gay — he seems to be a great guy and being gay or straight does not matter.
Funny thing, at our annual Bosch Christmas Party, this guy got really drunk and started in on his sexual escapes and everyone was completely disgusted. It made me think about it really doesn’t matter who you screw — no one really wants to hear about it.
Okay, so yeah, I was gonna watch the game, but my addiction took over.
Bosch
December 30th, 2010
11:28 pm
“Damn Bosch when was the last time you really cleaned out those closets”
Last Christmas
Bosch
December 30th, 2010
11:31 pm
Oh Common, I should say, i live in a big 100 year old house — very few closets, many antiques with nooks and crannies full of stuff. So, I’d say every five years or so, I make the cycle of getting to all of those and the rounds of junk you’ve thrown into those crannies gets gone…damn I should have eaten something before getting into that last bottle — to think of all the cheese balls and dips still in my fridge left from the party…………….
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
11:31 pm
It made me think about it really doesn’t matter who you screw — no one really wants to hear about it.
Thats what Bill Clinton said too
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2010
11:33 pm
If you come out of hiding now you will probably get spotted
Bosch
December 30th, 2010
11:35 pm
Mick,
“How could the commander of a nuclear submarine be such a disappointment? ”
he has said, many times, that he sucked as the POTUS. I’ve always thought, like Obama, he was the POTUS at the wrong time — the status of the country was so bad at the time, Jesus Christ himself would have sucked in that position.
“He is a great man in private life however, probably the greatest ex-president ever.”
Yes, he is — AND he’s an excellent Sunday School teacher. I’ve always laughed at those who judge him just being POTUS — I mean, who cares about that — to me, that never measures a man, in fact, that is kind of a strike against you. It’s all about what you do with it, and Carter has more than delivered. He has always been, and will always be, my personal hero.
josef nix
December 30th, 2010
11:36 pm
BOSCH
He’s something of a hero down home for taking Katrina so personally…he still keeps going back and reporting and is about the only one who’s still keeping it before the public eye…same thing with the oil spill…
I like the way he (and Shepherd Smith and Rachel Madow) have handled the gay thing…yes? And? They’re good role models for young gay folks AND, yes, young straight folks, too…sort of the “post gay” equivalent of President Obama’s “post racial…”
Bosch
December 30th, 2010
11:37 pm
Common,
Oh, how I wish we’d never heard about Monica Lewinsky…and Sarah Palin.
josef nix
December 30th, 2010
11:42 pm
time to call it quits…g’night
Bosch
December 30th, 2010
11:43 pm
josef,
Isn’t it amazing how quick the hole was plugged in the Gulf — it completely went off the cultural radar? I was a member of a couple of advocacy groups involved in the gulf oil spill, and the day the media reported the hole was plugged — whamo — no more support.
Same with Katrina — it’s why I’ve always said that Americans are too ADD for their own good.
Scout
December 30th, 2010
11:43 pm
Bosch:
You left out a few other women who very articulately and believeably accused him of worse.
Mick
December 30th, 2010
11:43 pm
josef
Rachel maddow is the best person on tv for factual information. She should be the one on meet the press asking the important tough questions instead of david gregory.
bosch
Well at least jimmy carter had willie nelson over and he promptly fired one up on the rooftop of the white house with jimmy’s sons. At the time, ain’t that america?
Scout
December 30th, 2010
11:46 pm
Mick and Common Sense:
Agree 100% re: Reagan
P.S. I don’t think Carter ever “commanded” a submarine. He was just one of the officers.
“Naval careerCarter served on surface ships and on diesel-electric submarines in the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. As a junior officer, he completed qualification for command of a diesel-electric submarine. He applied for the US Navy’s fledgling nuclear submarine program run by then Captain Hyman G. Rickover. Rickover’s demands on his men and machines were legendary, and Carter later said that, next to his parents, Rickover had the greatest influence on him. Carter has said that he loved the Navy, and had planned to make it his career. His ultimate goal was to become Chief of Naval Operations. Carter felt the best route for promotion was with submarine duty since he felt that nuclear power would be increasingly used in submarines. Upon the death of his father James Earl Carter, Sr., in July 1953, Lieutenant Carter resigned his commission after six years of military service, and he was discharged from the Navy on October 9, 1953.[11][12]“
Bosch
December 30th, 2010
11:46 pm
Scout,
Does it really matter? Who really cares?
Mick,
Alright, my sweetheart ,Starbuck, the puppy, is needing some attention and it is NO fun when she wants to help me blog.
G’night all.
Scout
December 30th, 2010
11:49 pm
One of the biggest problems regarding President Carter was his appointments and the people he brought with him.
Normally, one has to take a huge pay cut to work in an “administration”. Basically, you are donating your time to your country for awhile.
In Carter’s case, most of the people he relied on were being paid (via their federal salary) the most they had ever made in their lives.
It just doesn’t work that way.
You don’t play in the big leagues with the Jr. Varsity.
Mick
December 30th, 2010
11:50 pm
scout
My only lament with reagan is that he flung open the doors for extreme right wing propaganda. I mean reagan actually raised taxes and saved social security, not very republican of him was it?
Scout
December 30th, 2010
11:50 pm
Bosch:
Those women care. If you have ever been a victim you should know that.
Mick
December 30th, 2010
11:54 pm
Accusations are a dime a dozen, especially if you are in positions of power.
moonbat betty
December 30th, 2010
11:58 pm
I heard this song in an elevator today and it reminded me of aforementioned CNN poll and Bosch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM7LR46zrQU
Scout
December 31st, 2010
12:01 am
TAPS !
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 31st, 2010
12:05 am
I’m kinda torn on that issue myself. on one side Monica wasn’t the one who came forward (it was Linda Trippe) but for the one in Arkansas the story didn’t get much if any play until after the election. When there seemed to be a payday involved.
on the other hand there just seems to be too many accusations for there not to have been something going on (although if I was married to Hillary I might stray also LOL). Although from then on I would wear a cast iron jockstrap.
Mick
December 31st, 2010
12:06 am
Al stewart – one album hit wonder…..roger out
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 31st, 2010
12:07 am
Mick@11:50 pm
scout
My only lament with reagan is that he flung open the doors for extreme right wing propaganda. I mean reagan actually raised taxes and saved social security, not very republican of him was it?
————–
also fired the unionized air traffic controllers and opened up the overfunded pension funds for LBO’s
moonbat betty
December 31st, 2010
12:42 am
mick, no shiite you pig you.
mick, this is something from 1980
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bWdWZLSTio
Gandalf, the Wise!
December 31st, 2010
12:56 am
happy new year!
Mick
December 31st, 2010
8:31 am
moonbat
Great floyd – happy new year…
SwamiDave
December 31st, 2010
1:10 pm
Who’d be surprised that we have a divided country when we are at the tipping point between the barely half have income tax liability and the ever-nearing majority who do not. AKA – a dividing line where one group is allowed to exist as parasites off the productivity of the other.
-SD
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 31st, 2010
6:04 pm
Quick answer – the half that seem to think that income taxes are the only taxes have assisted in ending a hell of a lot of jobs offshore either directly or indirectly thru there choice of goods/services purchased. So quit your bitchin and pay up