Public More Aligned With Obama Than GOP On Issues
A USA Today/Pew Research Center Poll taken two weeks ago finds that a majority of Americans side with President Obama over GOP leaders on many issues:
By almost 3-1, 71%-26%, those surveyed favor Obama’s proposal to raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour from the current $7.25.
76% agree with the president that Congress should reduce the deficit through a combination of spending cuts and tax increases, while just 19 percent agree with the Republican position that tax increases should be completely off the table.
Re: the automatic spending cuts known as the sequester---if no deal was reached by March 1 to avert them, 49% percent would blame House Republicans, compared to just 31 percent who would blame President Obama.
On climate change, Americans back setting stricter emission limits on power plants (a step Obama has discussed), by more than 2-1. By 54%-34%, they support developing alternative sources of energy over increasing production of oil and coal.
On gun control, a majority of Republicans say nothing should be done on guns now. That puts them at odds with Americans overall: 83% back mandating background checks for all gun buyers; 56% a ban on assault weapons; 53% a ban on high-capacity ammunition clips. The White House favors all three of these proposals, while Republican leadership has opposed them.
Obama’s approach to immigration is preferred to the GOP’s by a wide margin, 50%-33%. 47 % of Americans agree with the president’s stance that better border security and a path to citizenship should be the priority of a new policy, while just 25 percent favor an enforcement-only approach.
| Dealing with...... | % | % |
% |
Obama adv. |
| Gun policies | 45 | 39 | 15=100 | +6 |
| Budget deficits | 45 | 38 | 17=100 | +7 |
| Immigration | 50 | 33 | 17=100 | +17 |
| Climate change | 47 | 26 | 27=100 |
+21 |
From: Pew Research Center/USA TODAY Feb. 13-18 2013 Q10
(Figures may not add to 100% because of rounding)
Additional findings:
The president’s overall job approval rating is 51%. The approval rating for Republican congressional leaders is a dismal 25%. Democratic congressional leaders approval rating is 37%.
And just 22% of Americans, nearly a record low, consider themselves Republicans.
------Sources USA TODAY and Pew Research Center. Click here to view the survey.
The Talking Points Memo article USA Today/Pew: Public Prefers Obama to Congressional GOP on Host of Issues. also addresses this topic.
