Escape from reality: Things have gotten so bad under the Worst President Ever, a new poll suggests Americans are fantasizing about the way things might could be in 2008. This is from National Journal’s PollTrack:
Two marquee names top Americans’ lists for their visions of the two major political parties — but according to a new Diageo/Hotline survey, only one represents the reality.
One half-sample of this month’s survey named the politician they thought each party currently stands for; the other named the politician they thought the party should stand for.
For the Democrats, the answer was the same: New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said she best represents her party and a quarter said she best represents what her party should be. She also came out ahead in every party breakdown, with more than three in 10 Democrats saying she symbolizes what their party’s values are and should be.
But the GOP had a gap between its current image and the one respondents envision. Three in 10 — a big plurality — said Arizona Sen. John McCain best represents what his party should stand for. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, McCain’s next closest contender, had just 17 percent of the vote; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had 16 percent.
And just 15 percent said McCain actually does represent the Republican Party. Twenty-one percent picked Rice and two in 10 picked Vice President Dick Cheney, with Giuliani, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger trailing by 10 points or more.Fifty-seven percent of respondents said they’d be at least somewhat likely to vote for McCain if he ran for president in 2008; 28 percent said they would not. The poll’s matchup between McCain and Clinton showed him trouncing the former first lady, 52 percent to 39 percent.
McCain also came out on top in a hypothetical matchup positioning him as a third-party candidate instead of as a Republican. Four in 10 said they’d vote for him as an independent against Clinton (34 percent) and Jeb Bush (18 percent). He didn’t fair quite as well with Rice in the equation, coming out tied with Clinton at 35 percent. Twenty percent said they’d vote for Rice in that scenario.
Escaping to 2008 hypotheticals might have been appealing to most poll respondents: About two-thirds of them told pollsters the country is off on the wrong track, up 6 points since the October survey. Just 24 percent said it’s headed in the right direction, 2 points lower than last month.
In a reversal from the previous poll, though, concerns about the war in Iraq (29 percent) overtook the economy (14 percent) as the most important issue facing the country. President Bush’s job-approval split came in at 40/58, compared to last month’s 41/57.
When presented with eight choices, 31 percent named the Iraq war as their biggest reason for their disapproval. Twenty-three percent cited his economic policies. A 34-percent plurality chose “all of the above” on the list, which also included gas prices, ethical issues and Bush’s handling of Hurricane Katrina.
At 36 percent, Congress’ approval jumped 7 points since October. A 52-percent majority still said they disapproved of legislators’ work, however, and nearly four in 10 said they thought the country would be better off if Democrats were in charge on the Hill. Twenty-nine percent chose the GOP.
