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Should Republicans oppose Obama, or just go along?

02/24/09 10:07 AM EST

By Byron York
Chief political correspondent

Some interesting insights for Republicans deep inside in the newly-released New York Times poll.  (You can go to the entire, uncut poll here.)

First of all, Obama's general job approval rating, 63 percent, is strong, virtually unchanged from 62 percent in a Times poll two weeks ago.  Second, disapproval of Obama is fairly small but solidifying; it now stands at 22 percent, up from 15 percent in the first Times poll.  All of the disapprovers appear to be coming from the ranks of the undecided; last time, 23 percent said they were undecided, and now it is 15 percent.

For Republicans, the most interesting numbers concern the stimulus bill.  The Times asked, "Do you think the economic stimulus bill recently passed by Congress and signed by the President will shorten the length of the current recession, or not?"  In response, 50 percent said the stimulus will not shorten the recession, and 17 percent said it will shorten the recession, but not significantly.  Just 19 percent said it will significantly shorten the recession.  (Fourteen percent didn't know.)

Then, the Times asked, "In your opinion, which will do MORE to protect or create jobs: increased government spending on infrastructure, health care, education and other fields, OR tax cuts that would put more money in the hands of individuals and businesses?"  Fifty percent answered tax cuts, while 41 percent said government spending.  Three percent said both, and five percent didn't know.

Then, the Times asked, "Most Republican members of Congress opposed the stimulus package. Do you think they opposed it mostly because they thought it would be bad for the economy or mostly for political reasons?"  Sixty-three percent said Republicans opposed the bill for political reasons, while just 29 percent said Republicans opposed the bill because it would be bad for the economy.  (Eight percent didn't know.)

Finally, the Times asked whether Obama should concentrate more on working in a bipartisan way with Republicans or on keeping his campaign promises.  Fifty-six percent said Obama should stick with his agenda, versus 39 percent who said he should be bipartisan and five percent who didn't know.  When people were asked whether Republicans should concentrate more on working in a bipartisan way with Obama and Democrats or on sticking to Republican policies, 79 percent said Republicans should be bipartisan, versus just 17 percent who said they should stick to their agenda, and four percent who didn't know.

The message in these numbers, it seems, is that a majority or near-majority of the public believes Republicans are right about the stimulus, but they also believe that GOP leaders are acting from bad motives.  People see Obama as the rightful leader in the economic recovery, and they want Republicans to work with him, but not necessarily the other way around.

That seems to create a dilemma.  What should Republicans do: Continue being right about the stimulus and other economic measures, or go over to the Obama side?

Some Republicans will advocate greater cooperation, while some will say that the party's policies are right and it just has a communication problem.  I think the answer is somewhere in the middle.  The numbers seem to say that on economic recovery measures, Republicans should seek out areas in which they can quite prominently agree with and work with Obama.  But on the basic issues, they should stick to their guns.  When a large part of the public agrees with you, but distrusts your motives, it seems that the last thing you should do is change your opinion to fit theirs.  They'll just distrust you more.  Rather, you should stay true to your beliefs in the hope that the public will eventually recognize your conviction.  And even if that doesn't happen, you've done what you think is right.