Polling Perils

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “New Poll Shows Darkening Mood Across America,” provides potentially perilous results for both Democrats and Republicans.

Confidence in our economy’s recovery has all but dissipated with a 13 percent jump in negative ratings, best encapsulated by the percentage of people who disapprove of President Obama’s handling of the economy, now at the highest level ever at 57 percent. Still, more people approve of the President’s overall performance in office than disapprove, at 46 versus 45 percent. Plus the idea of replacing Medicare with something similar to Paul Ryan’s voucher program remains extremely high.

Many analysts think that the continuing rising gas prices are one of the prime reasons for this turnaround in public opinion. When it takes $75 to fill your tank, it’s hard to feel optimistic about the economy. And the approval ratings for Congress, especially for this divided government, now at the 100-day mark, are even lower than those of the President.

One hopes that the American people are smart enough to avoid blindly voting against incumbents like they did in the last national election. That just made things worse, with the Republicans now trying to dismantle the social safety net. And giving even more tax cuts to the rich in the process. Polls can be tricky things; sometimes, you can get different results based on the way you word the question. Let’s wait a few months before we extrapolate to November 2012 in any case.