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Independents dissing Obama?
By: Michael Barone
Senior Political Analyst
07/08/09 3:21 PM EDT
In my Examiner column today, I argued that American voters are recoiling against the big government programs of the Obama administration and congressional Democrats. I noted particularly that Independent voters, who responded much more like Democrats than Republicans when George W. Bush was in the White House, are responding much more like Republicans than Democrats now that Obama is there.
I am pointed toward additional evidence for this last proposition by blogger Fred Bauer, who cites polls in Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon and Virginia, all of which he carried in November 2008. Also, Public Policy Polling, an outfit run by North Carolina Democrats, documents Obama’s lukewarm-to-weak poll ratings in recent polling in Obama 2008 states New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia, as well as his weak ratings among Independents in McCain 2008 states Alabama and West Virginia. This looks like a phenomenon not confined to any one region of the country.
The good news for Obama and the Democrats is that continue to be fewer voters identifying as Republicans than there were in the 2002 and 2004 cycle. The bad news for them is that they’re getting unpopular among the increased number of voters who identify as Independents.
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