AP-GfK Poll: Most attuned voters tilt toward GOP

AP ^ | 8/31/2010 | Alan Fram

[markomalley]

WASHINGTON – Americans with the strongest opinions about the country's most divisive issues are largely unhappy with how President Barack Obama is handling them, an ominous sign for Democrats hoping to retain control of Congress in the fall elections.

In nine of 15 issues examined in an Associated Press-GfK Poll this month, more Americans who expressed intense interest in a problem voiced strong opposition to Obama's work on it, including the economy, unemployment, federal deficits and terrorism. They were about evenly split over the president's efforts on five issues and strongly approved of his direction on just one: U.S. relationships with other countries.

In another danger sign for Democrats, most Americans extremely concerned about 10 of the issues say they will vote for the Republican candidate in their local House race. Only those highly interested in the environment lean toward the Democrats.

The findings are troubling for Democrats struggling to protect their House and Senate majorities on Election Day. They suggest that many of the most involved voters — those with the deepest feelings about issues high on the nation's agenda — are furious with the party in power and will take out their wrath at the polls.

(snip)

To find people with the most intense views, the AP examined poll respondents who called an issue extremely important and compared those who strongly approved of Obama's handling of that matter with those who strongly disapproved.

By a 3-to-1 margin, more of these highly opinionated people strongly disapproved of the president's effort on the economy than strongly approved. More strongly disapproved of Obama's actions by a 2-to-1 ratio on unemployment, 2-1 on health care, 6-1 on the deficit and 2-1 on terrorism. His performance on Afghanistan, taxes, immigration and gas prices also drew strong disapproval.

(snip)

[chickadee]

"They were about evenly split over the president's efforts on five issues and strongly approved of his direction on just one: U.S. relationships with other countries."

Huh?

[markomalley]

Huh?

I agree. But look at it this way: this is the next area where we need to debunk the media myth.

[Zakeet]

Associated Press-GfK is the surviving Roper Organization.

Burns Roper and his cronies were slanted politically somewhere left of Marx, and accordingly invented the push poll to advance their agenda.

As a result, any poll indicating substantial Rat problems is especially significant.