Last updated on August 11th, 2014 at 12:00 am
A new ABC News/Washington Post poll finds that voters blame the Republican Party for killing the $700 billion bailout bill by a 2 to 1 margin. Ninety Five percent of those surveyed labeled the financial problems either a crisis, or a serious problem, and 88% are worried that the failure of the bailout bill will worsen the nation’s economic problems.
The nation is split on the bailout, with 47% opposing it, and 45% favoring it. Voters also have little confidence in Washington to solve the problem, as only 51% of those asked expressed confidence that the government will prevent the crisis from getting worse. However, they do approve by a 47%-42% margin of the steps that the Fed and the Treasury Department have taken.
The big question is whom are voters blaming for this mess. By political party, 44% blamed the Republicans, 21% blamed the Democrats, and 17% blamed both parties. Specifically, 25% of those asked blame President Bush, 18% blame Wall St., 8% blame the government in Washington, and 5% blame people who borrowed too much. By a margin of 34%-27% voters think that the bill did too much to help the companies that got into trouble, and 61% said that the bill did too little to help ordinary Americans.
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This poll is full of terrible news for John McCain and the GOP in general. Their president is blamed for creating the crisis. No one is happy about the bailout, but they want the government to do something, and they agree with the Democratic position stated by Obama that the government needs to do more to help ordinary people. If something does not pass soon, twelve House Republican ideologues may end up being the ones who doomed their Party to a gigantic loss in November.
John McCain is in a deep hole on this issue. According to this poll, people did not agree with his previous positions, and he is running at the top of the ticket of the incumbent party that voters feel is responsible for causing this crisis. Beyond politics, the key right now is to get something done. Each day of inaction moves us closer to the brink. The Republican Party needs to get its act together, or they can forget about being in control of any part of government for a long time to come.
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
