A new pair of seemingly contradictory polls show that Rahm Emanuel might just be right in his pronouncements about bipartisanship — the public wants the Obama Administration to try, but isn’t placing too high a premium on success at it.
Check out this number from the new ABC/Washington Post poll:
What’s more important to you – that political leaders (stick with their positions on important issues, even if it means a lack of cooperation between Democrats and Republicans); or that political leaders (try to cooperate across party lines, even if it means compromising on important issues)?
Stick with their position 31%
Try to cooperate across party lines 66%
And now take a look at this CBS/New York Times poll, as noted by Greg Sargent:
Which do you think should be a higher priority for Barack Obama right now — working in a bipartisan way with Republicans in Congress or sticking to the policies he promised he would during the campaign?
Bipartisan 39%
Sticking to his policies 56%
The same question was asked about Republicans working with Obama, and it was a pretty lopsided result: Bipartisanship with Obama 79%, versus Sticking to Policies 17%.
As with many seeming variations in the polls, this comes down to how the question is asked. People like bipartisanship as an ideal, no doubt about it. But when faced with the facts of these specific politicians, pitting the popular Obama against the unpopular Republicans, the verdict is very clear.
