The Research 2000/Daily Kos Weekly Trending Poll is out with some post-health care numbers. Unsurprisingly, the president, the Democratic Party, Congressional Dems, and Nancy Pelosi are all enjoying a nice bump in public approval. Pelosi saw a three point jump, while Obama went up five points. Poor Harry Reid dropped a point. No doubt, he’s done a poor job of selling himself and his remarkable achievement in getting 60 votes on Christmas Eve. I guess these numbers are evidence that people blame him for the lack of a public option in the final bill but are giving a Pelosi a pass on the issue.
Who suffered the most? Republicans in Congress (-7) and John “Hell No” Boehner (-5) both saw their numbers tank. Only 17% approve of Boehner’s job performance, while 71% of disapprove of the job congressional Republicans are doing. Even in their homebase in the South, the congressional GOP only has 30%-56% approval.
Perhaps more importantly, the enthusiasm gap has closed (as we predicted it would) post-health care passage. Markos explains:
Three weeks ago, 40 percent of Democrats were likely or definitely going to vote, compared to 51 percent of Republicans — an 11 point “intensity gap”. Two weeks ago, as the battle for health care reform heated up, and GOP obstructionism came in full view, the numbers were 45 percent for Democrats, 56 percent for Republicans — both sides equally riled up.
This week, the numbers are 55 percent for Democrats, 62 percent for Republicans. While both sides saw big spikes in their numbers, Democrats were particularly energized, with that intensity gap narrowing from 11 points to a far more manageable seven. First [sic] the first time in over a year, Democrats have a reason to get excited about their party, and are newly engaging in the political process.
Isn’t it amazing how people actually like politicians who deliver on their promises and get hard stuff done? I think it’s particularly telling that Boehner took such a massive hit in his numbers. The Democrats are more popular than the Republicans in pretty much every category, and they have a slight money advantage, too. If the Dems continue to deliver accomplishments, that enthusiasm gap may disappear all together or even flip in the Democrats’ favor. The American people don’t want to vote for Republicans, but until this week they didn’t see much reason to vote for their incumbents either.
