The FINANCIAL — As the White House and congressional Republicans haggle over extending the Bush tax cuts, voters express even less confidence than they did a month ago that President Obama can work with the new GOP majority in the House.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 38% of Likely U.S. Voters are even somewhat confident that the president can work with the new House Republican majority to do what’s best for the American people.
Fifty-nine percent (59%) don’t share that confidence.
Those figures include 18% who are Very Confident the political opponents can work together and 25% who are Not At All Confident.
Just after Election Day last month, 43% were confident the two could work together for what’s best for the country.
A separate survey finds that 56% of voters think politics in Washington, D.C. will be more partisan over the next year. That’s up from 49% right after Election Day.
Just to put things into perspective, 55% of voters believe bipartisanship in the nation’s capital is a good thing. Only 24% regard cooperation between the two major political parties as a bad thing, while 21% more are not sure.
But voters are more closely divided when asked what Congress’ most important role is: 49% say it’s passing good legislation, while 41% believe it’s more important for Congress to prevent bad legislation from becoming law.
To pave the way for the new Congress, the president has met with congressional Republican leaders, including Ohio Congressman John Boehner who is expected to be the next speaker of the House. Seventy-one percent (71%) of voters say they have followed news stories about meetings between Obama and senior congressional Republicans.
Sixty-six percent (66%) of Democrats are confident that the president can work with the new GOP majority in the House to do what’s best for the American people. Eighty percent (80%) of Republicans and 70% of voters not affiliated with either of the major parties are not confident that will happen.
Seventy-five percent (75%) of those in the Political Class expect the two to work together to do what’s best for the country. Seventy-one percent (71%) of Mainstream voters do not.
Political Class voters also believe more strongly than those in the Mainstream that bipartisanship is a good thing.
Most voters continue to give the current session of Congress poor marks in its closing days, but all the major congressional leaders seem to be benefiting from a little good will since the elections.
Most voters are optimistic that the Bush tax cuts will be continued for all Americans.
However, voters are pessimistic about what the new Congress is likely to accomplish in the next couple years in key areas such as immigration, taxes and government spending.
Most voters are still not convinced Congress will actually cut government spending substantially over the next year. GOP voters are among the most doubtful.
In a survey right after Election Day, 59% said it is at least somewhat likely that most voters will be disappointed with Republicans in Congress before the next national elections.
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