A new Quinnipiac poll found that 49% of Republicans believe that the GOP is doing too little to compromise with President Obama. Just 32% think they are doing the right amount.
The Quinnipiac University poll found that Americans are blaming both sides for the gridlock in Washington, DC, but they are blaming Republicans more. 55% of those surveyed believe that President Obama is doing too little to compromise with Republicans, but 68% of them also believe that congressional Republicans have done too little to compromise with the president. The most surprising result in the entire poll was the finding that Republicans want more compromise with President Obama. Forty nine percent of Republicans expressed the belief that their own members of Congress had done too little to compromise with the president. Thirty two percent said that Republicans had tried to compromise about the right amount, and 14% said that congressional Republicans are compromising too much.
When asked who is to blame for the gridlock 64% said both parties, but when asked why Washington was gridlocked, 51% blamed Republicans blocking Obama’s initiatives. Thirty five percent said that the president lacks the skills to convince Congress to work together, and 14% didn’t know. Congressional Republicans also have a 71% disapproval rating. By a margin of 49%-39% Republicans disapprove of the job that their own party is doing in Congress.
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What this poll suggests is that the Republican strategy of obstructing everything has backfired. It turns out that many Republicans are just as frustrated with the government’s inability to get anything done as everyone else is. The fact that 69% of Republicans blamed both parties for the gridlock suggests that many Republicans understand at least part of what is really going on in Congress, and they don’t like it.
It appears that a growing portion of the country is tired of the dysfunction in Congress. Republicans are certain that Obama isn’t doing enough to compromise with them, even though the facts disagree, but they also want to see their own party compromise more.
The American people are seeing through the GOP’s obstruct and blame Obama strategy. It has gotten so bad that even Republicans are calling on their own party to compromise more with Obama.
It looks like the only thing Republicans have successfully obstructed is their own popularity.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
