More Americans think Republicans can handle the economy better than Democrats for the first time since President Obama took office in January, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research poll.
Republicans beat out Democrats in the poll by 48 to 45 percent. That’s quite a shift from August, when 52 percent of respondents said Democratic economic policies are superior, compared to 39 percent for Republicans.
While the economy has rebounded during that period, the job market hasn’t. Unemployment stood at 9.7 percent in March, unchanged from August.
So perhaps it’s not surprising that 78 percent of respondents in the latest poll believe the economy is in “very poor” or “somewhat poor” condition.
Only 20 percent see the economy in a “somewhat good” condition, and a miniscule 1 percent see it as “very good.”
Healthcare reform apparently isn’t doing Democrats much good politically. Democrats hold only a 2 percentage point lead over Republicans on health issues, plummeting from 9 points in August.
On Medicare, the Democrats’ led has been trimmed to 1 percentage point — 47 percent to 46 percent — from 13 points in August.
According to a new USA Today/Gallup Poll, almost two-thirds of Americans believe the new healthcare law is too expensive and gives too much authority to the government.
And Democrats may pay the price for that in November’s congressional elections.
Supporters "are not only going to have to focus on implementing this kind of major reform," Robert Blendon, a Harvard professor of health policy and political analysis, told the paper.
"They're going to have to spend substantial time convincing people of the concrete benefits of this legislation."
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