GOP Still Out Of Touch With Public Views

The above chart was made with information from the recent Gallup Poll (conducted between August 7th and 11th of a nationwide sample of 2,059 adults -- with a 3 point margin of error). Note that the most important issues for the American public are the poor economy (25%) and the unemployment/jobs situation (19%), closely followed by the public's belief that there is poor leadership and corruption in our federal government (17%).

But while it is clear that the public is unhappy with the politicians in Washington, the most important issue are the related issues of the poor economy and jobs -- which together makes up about 44% of the public's concern.

But those are not the concerns of the congressional Republicans. The Republicans have repeatedly harped on two issues -- the budget deficit and repealing Obamacare. Only 9% of the public listed health care as their primary concern, and many of those (like myself) don't want Obamacare repealed. They want it improved. But even if we are generous and give the Republicans that whole 9%, and then add it to the 6% worried about the budget deficit, we can see that at a maximum the GOP congressmen are only appealing to about 15% of the population.

That 15% (a very generous estimate) is far less than the 44% worried about the economy and jobs (neither of which the Republicans have shown any willingness to address). The point is that the GOP is still out-of-touch with the issues the public wants government to address. Now the Republicans are saying they are willing to shut down the government (which will hurt the economy further) unless Obamacare is repealed or defunded.

Such a move is not going to endear that party with the public (who wants them to compromise on solutions to improve the economy and create jobs). It will just further anger most of the public, and probably further damage the already extremely low job approval ratings of Congress that have been in the cellar all year long (see chart below).