GOP in extremis: A new national poll of registered voters from Quinnipiac finds that only 28% have a favorable view of the Republican Party (52% unfavorable). For the Democratic Party, the responses were somewhat better, 38% favorable and 44% unfavorable. Only 19% approved of the way Republicans in Congress were handling their job. The comparable response for the Democrats in Congress was 34%.
When Gallup asked adults to name two things they disliked about the Republican and Democratic parties, the top response for the Republicans was inflexibility (cited by 21%) followed by being for the rich (12%). The top criticism of the Democratic Party was the familiar “big spender” problem (14%) followed by inflexibility and poor leadership (both 8%). In the poll, as in other recent polls, Republicans were more critical of their party than Democrats were of theirs.
Guns: President Obama journeyed to Colorado this week to try to increase pressure on lawmakers as the Senate prepares to debate the issue next week. How much has opinion moved in the wake of the December 14 Newtown shootings? Pew reported in February that opinion had shifted “modestly” toward support for gun control. Pew’s trend showed a three-point shift since a July 2012 poll in a preference for controlling gun ownership (from 47% to 50%), while 46% in each survey said it was more important to protect the right to own guns. Looking at this question over a longer period of time, there is more support now for protecting gun rights than there was from 1993 to 2000 when around a third said protecting gun rights was more important. A late March Marist/Morning Joe poll also found a “slight increase” in the proportion of people who put more weight on controlling gun violence than on protecting gun rights.
In the abstract there is support for “stricter” gun control in most polls and strong support for some specific measures such as stricter background checks and a ban on assault weapons. In the new Marist poll, 87% supported legislation that would call for background checks for private gun sales and purchases made at gun shows. In the poll, 59% supported a ban on assault weapons.
Immigration: News reports suggest that lawmakers and key interest groups have agreed on the outlines of an immigration overhaul. As we have documented before, public opinion is moving. In a new ABC/Washington Post poll, 57% favored a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, while 40% were opposed. There was greater support for enhanced border security to reduce the problem of illegal immigration (80%) and for allowing more highly skilled non-Americans to live and work here (72%).
In Pew’s recent question, 27% said immigrants who are here illegally should not be allowed to stay, while 71% said there should be a way for those who meet certain requirements to stay. In a new Public Religion Research Institute poll, 63% said immigrants here illegally should be allowed a way to become citizens provided they meet certain requirements, 14% said they should be permitted to become permanent legal residents, but not citizens, and 21% wanted to identify and deport them.
No comments:
Post a Comment