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 down 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: US relationships with other countries. The findings are troubling for Democrats struggling to protect their House of Representatives 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.
Congressional races often turn on local concerns and the candidates’ character, factors that may yet sway many races this year. But many analysts think the public’s widely sour mood -- just 35 percent in the AP-GfK poll said the country is headed in the right direction -- means this year’s campaigns could be widely influenced by national issues, especially the economy.
“The economy is poor, we’re muddling through in Afghanistan, we’re not making much progress in the war on terror,” said Paul Goren, a University of Minnesota political scientist who studies voting behavior. “Every once in a while national issues can intrude. It looks like there’s a good chance this will be one of those elections.”
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 to 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, as well as on Afghanistan, taxes, immigration and gas prices.
Of the most frequently mentioned issues, the only one where most did not strongly disapprove of Obama’s work was education, on which they were closely divided. They were also split over his handling of energy, Iraq, the environment and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
