Jul 27 It's Tough Being A Republican Right Now?

Sunday mornings at my house means the DVR is set for At Issue With Tom Hauser. I especially enjoy the In-Depth portion and the Face-Off portion of the show. This Sunday morning, the Democrat debating the topics was a leader of SEIU Local 526 (I think that's it but I'm not 100% certain.) Sarah Janacek represented Republicans during the In-Depth portion. Dave Thompson handled the Face-Off portion.

During the In-Depth portion, Ms. Janacek was asked if the trouble President Obama was having with health care was helping Republicans. Ms. Janacek said that it was, then said that it's tough being a Republican right now. I'll respectfully disagree with Sarah on that. Frankly, I think we're finally lifting ourselve out of the fog that's crippled us the last 2 election cycles.

Scott Rasmussen's polling says that conditions are improving for Republicans nationwide. Here's a sampling of what Rasmussen's polling showed recently:

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that voters trust the GOP more on economic issues 46% to 41%, showing little change from the six-point lead the party held last month. This is just the second time in over two years of polling the GOP has held the advantage on economic issues. The parties were close on the issue in May, with the Democrats holding a one-point lead.

That isn't the only good news from the polling:

Republican candidates lead Democrats for the second straight week in the latest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 41% would vote for their district's Republican congressional candidate while 38% would choose the Democratic candidate. Support for the GOP remains unchanged this week, at its highest level over the past year, but support for Democrats dropped one point to tie its lowest level in the same time period.

My point isn't to beat up on Sarah Janacek. Rather, my point is to say that things are swinging away from Democrats and towards Republicans. Let's remember what's happening in Ohio:

Strickland's approval rating has plummeted by 11 points in the last two months and Ohioans now give him a thumbs down on the way he is performing his job, including that he has failed to keep his campaign promises, according to a poll released this morning by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

A new Quinnipiac poll shows President Obama's approval rating has dropped 13 points over the last two months in Ohio, a key battleground state with plenty of critical Congressional contests in 2010.

Obama now only holds a 49 percent approval rating, with 44 percent of voters disapproving. It's his lowest approval rating in any Quinnipiac statewide poll taken since Obama's inauguration. In May, Obama held a 62 percent approval rating in the Buckeye state.

Meanwhile, a 48 percent plurality of Ohio voters disapprove of the way Obama is handling the economy, with 46 percent approving. Two-thirds of Ohio voters are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the state.

"The economy in Ohio is as bad as anywhere in America. These numbers indicate that for the first time voters have decided that President Barack Obama bears some responsibility for their problems," said Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown.

Tea Party events are still drawing big crowds. People trust Republicans more than Democrats on 8 of the top 10 issues. People are questioning the Democrats' policies, especially health care and the stimulus bill/economy.

If anyone should be worried right now, it's Democrats. They're dealing with an increasingly unpopular president. They're on the wrong side of the most important issues of the day. People adamantly oppose tax increases and major changes to our economy.

People are resistent to change in the best of times. Making transformational changes in difficult economic times is an uphill battle at best. Combine that with growing voter distrust for the people proposing these changes and it's more like climbing Everest in jeans, a hooded sweatshirt and tennis shoes.

I'd strongly encourage Sarah Janacek to attend a tea party soon to get a feel for the crowd's intensity and optimism. In fact, as a goodwill gesture, I'm inviting Ms. Janacek to St. Cloud for our next tea party.

Comments welcome at LFR.