President Obama’s speech unveiling his jobs bill was a call to action for Congress. Literal action, in this case, as he’s gone on a barnstorming tour of swing states with a simple message repeated over and over: “Pass this bill.” So how is the new jobs package playing with Americans? Pretty well, but as before, economic pessimism is reigning right now, and it’s a drag on almost all numbers.
But being down on the economy hasn’t convinced Americans to hand control over to Republicans: they still trust Obama more on the economy than the Congressional GOP.
CNN and Bloomberg on Wednesday both released polls on reaction to the jobs plan and the economy in general. CNN asked Americans if they agreed with the proposals in Obama’s plan, and a plurality said they did: 43 percent favored the bill and 35 were against it. But Bloomberg asked voters if the plan “will or will not help lower the unemployment rate?”, which respondents doubted. 40 percent said no, 51 yes.
Of course, asking a question specifically about the unemployment rate colors the policy as a success or failure ahead of data actually being available. As many pundits and businesspeople will tell you, the unemployment rate is a lagging indicator. So Bloomberg was essentially asking for economic prognostication should the jobs plan pass, not whether Americans thought the jobs plan is a good idea.
Within the polls there were bad numbers for the President on the economy more generally, which has been the case for months. Obama’s approval on this handling of the economy is 36 percent in the CNN poll and 33 percent in the Bloomberg, which matches Gallup, NBC/WSJ, ABC/WaPo and others in the last week or so.
But CNN also asked about the choice between President Obama and Congressional Republicans, who have sustained a huge hit themselves after the debt ceiling fight. 46 percent still say they prefer the President, to 37 percent who prefer Congressional Republicans. 15 percent say they prefer neither. The Bloomberg poll showed a tighter split, but still chose Obama 43 percent of the time to the GOP’s 41.
Within the CNN question there are some interesting results. Those under 50, a group more likely to be unemployed, went for Obama by a 51 – 33 split. Even a quarter of self-described conservatives choose Obama over the Congressional GOPers, along with 50 percent of moderates and 78 percent of liberals.
Economic pessimism continues to infiltrate the thinking of American voters, and you don’t have to look hard for an answer as to why. When CNN asked whether respondents feel they are better off today than they were three years ago, 58 percent no. It’s not surprising given a previous CNN poll that showed 8 in 10 people think we are still in a recession, which means that many voters think we have been in a downturn since the President was elected. Gallup showed that there’s been little help from the actual economic indicators, so there are many legitimate reasons for Americans to remain upset. But has the data shows, the GOP hasn’t provided a silver bullet on the economy either, and voters are yet to embrace them as economic stewards. The jobs plan, which is enjoying initial support, is unlikely to change that view.
