A new Pew Research Center for the People and the Press survey finds “daunting” indicators for Democrats headed into midterm elections, including Obamacare disapproval 55 percent — “as high as it ever has been in the four-year history of the law.”
Nearly half of respondents, though, are resigned to assuming that Obamacare’s major provisions are probably “here to stay” — more more than a third of the law’s opponents feel that way. Forty-three percent of all polled predict that the Affordable Care Act can be eliminated, including 55 percent of Obamacare opponents.
When asked who can do the best job to boost the economy over the next five years, 43 percent picked GOP leaders in Congress while 39 percent chose President Obama.
Overall, though, Republican congressional leaders get a 23 percent job approval rating while Democratic leaders got 32 percent approval.
Sixty-five percent of those polled say they want the next president to offer different policies and programs than Obama. At a comparable period in his presidency, President Clinton scored 50 percent on this question.
“With the midterm elections six months away, Democrats are burdened by an uneven economic recovery and a stubbornly unpopular health care law,” Pew said in its assessment of the results. “Perhaps equally important, Barack Obama’s political standing is in some respects weaker than it was at a comparable point in the 2010 campaign, which ended with the Republicans gaining a majority in the House.”
The poll found that independent voters are leaning toward the Republican candidate by a 16-point margin, and women are split with 47 percent leaning toward the Democratic congressional candidate and 43 percent going GOP.
As far as the top issues, 48 percent pick jobs, 42 percent healthcare, 38 percent the budget deficit, 31 percent education, 19 percent national security and terrorism, and just 14 percent immigration. Fewer Democratic voters — 14 percent compared to 15 percent — flagged immigration as a top issue.
Fifty-three percent of voters said the control of Congress is a factor in their vote.
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