NBC/WSJ Poll: GOP Still Disliked, Dems in Doldrums, But Sparks of Hope Are There

I know it can be frustrating sometimes to look at polls and wonder what the heck most Americans are thinking. Jeez, it can be frustrating to see how Americans are more likely to vote in "American Idol" or "Dancing with the Stars" than an actual election!

However, not everything is horrible. I noticed this a little earlier, and took a closer look in the NBC-Wall Street Journal poll. First off, let's look at how people feel about the major actors in Washington.

Summary Table of Images Total Positive Total Negativeive D/S
Barack Obama 52 34 18
The Democratic Party 39 38 1
The Republican Party 32 38 -6
Scott Brown 23 8 15
The Tea Party Movement 28 21 7
Timothy Geithner 11 19 -8
Ben Bernanke 18 18 -

President Obama and Democrats are still viewed more favorably. And take a look at this:

Q4a In general, do you approve or disapprove of the job that Barack Obama is doing as president?

1/23- 25/10
1/10- 14/10
12/09
10/09
9/09
8/09
7/09
6/09
4/09
2/09
Approve................................... 50 48 47 51 51 51 53 56 61 60
Disapprove............................... 44 43 46 42 41 40 40 34 30 26
Not sure................................. 6 9 7 7 8 9 7 10 9 14

Obama's approval rating actually edged up a bit this month, and it's still net positive. And finally, just for fun, let's take a look at this.

Q14 Let me read you a number of criticisms people have mentioned about what is happening in Washington.
Please tell me if you agree or disagree with each one. (RANDOMIZE)


Agree Disagree Not
Sure
There is too much partisan fighting between Democrats and Republicans and very little cooperation 93 5 2
Special interests have too much influence over legislation 84 12 4
Not enough has been done to regulate Wall Street firms and the banking industry 74 22 4
The Democratic majorities in Congress are trying to push through legislation without bi-partisan compromise. 61 32 7
The Republicans in Congress are trying to block any Democratic legislation without bi-partisan compromise. 61 33 6
The federal government has gone too far and tried to do too much 58 39 3
President Obama has failed to provide the kind of leadership needed on the major issues like the economy
and health care. 47 50 3

So to a certain extent, people don't really know what they want. All we can really see is that they've grown weary of the partisan bickering in Congress, tired of the Wall Street bailouts, and frustrated over the lack of progress on the economy.

So what needs to be done?

Maybe President Obama can start tonight's State of the Union address by actually showing some leadership, declaring his commitment to getting health care reform done soon and done right (hint: public option wanted, HMO bailouts not), and starting anew on financial reform with a focus on curbing corporate excesses and Wall Street "robber barons". And no matter what President Obama says, Congressional Democrats need to just go froward with this plan. BTD explains why at Talk Left.

[...] [T]he relative popularity of Obama compared to the Congress does not translate into people coming out to vote for Dems in an election where Obama is not on the ballot. The reality is the Congressional Dems' fate in November is 'inextricably tied' to the BASE, not to Obama. They need the unions and activists and hard core Dems to work for, and VOTE for, them in November. And it is becoming painfully clear that Obama has little effect on that.

True. Unless one President has super strong support (Bush in 2002) or super strong opposition (Bush in 2006), the President only holds so much sway in a midterm election. However, that doesn't mean the President is irrelevant. Here's Greg Sargent's take:

As you can see, public opinion is very volatile right now. The public clearly has turned on the health care plan and has doubts about Obama’s overall priorities. But voters are heaping a heavy amount of the blame on Congress — which is to say, on the process — and still seems to think Obama is providing the level of needed leadership. What’s more, for now, voters are saying their pick in the midterms won’t be about opposition to Obama.

This all suggests the possibility that there’s still room for Obama to transcend the process and to recapture a bit of that reformer mantle that seems to have slipped away from him. Though there’s still obviously a ton of work to do.

And btw, here's what Sargent is referring to:

Q7c Will your vote for Congress this November be a vote to send a signal of support for President Obama, a
signal of opposition to President Obama, or not a signal either way about President Obama?

1/23-
25/10+
A vote to send signal of support for Obama.................................. 37
A vote to send signal of opposition to Obama............................... 27
Not a signal either way about Obama........................................... 35
Not sure...................................................................................... 1
+ Results shown reflect responses among registered voters

If voters are still willing to give Obama a chance, then there's hope. And if President Obama can use what's left of his "political capital" to actually get some good stuff done, all may not be lost just yet.