Americans can’t agree on who they want to “have the most influence on government policy next year,” according to a newly released USA Today/Gallup poll. No surprise there. What may come as a surprise, however, is that at the top of the poll, the split is between respondents who want President Obama to set policy, and those who want Tea Partiers to take the lead in Washington.
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The survey finds 28% of respondents maintaining that Obama should have the most influence on government policy next year; 27% indicate the same hope for Tea Party-backed members of Congress. Twenty-three percent of respondents suggested that Republican congressional leaders should take charge on policy, while only 16% said the responsibility should fall to Democratic leaders in Congress.
In a similar vein, 43% of those surveyed suggest that House Republicans won’t go far enough in reversing laws enacted by the Democratic majority over the past two years.
The survey finds President Obama’s approval rating barely eclipsing his historic low registered in a USA Today/Gallup poll: only 42% of respondents approve of the job he is doing in the Oval Office.
While things swung heavily to the right this past election, expectations for the incoming Congress are not set high– 39% of respondents say the shift to a Republican majority in the House won’t make any difference, versus 37% who say it will improve the nation’s situation. Twenty-two percent say Republican control will make things worse.
The latest survey’s margin of error is ±4.0 percentage points.
