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Subscribe to RSSOne of the few undeniable trends of this midterm season is that most Americans who are expected to go to the polls this November are fed up with their political leaders. But is that because they want representatives who are more willing to reach across the aisle and compromise on tough issues, or is it because they believe leaders should be more principled about sticking to their beliefs?
It may depend on which political party they favor.
A new Society for Human Research Management/National Journal Congressional Connection poll out today shows that American adults are divided on the value of 'compromise.' About half of respondents said that they most admire politicians who “who stick to their positions without compromising,” while 42 percent said they value leaders “who make compromises with people they disagree with.”
But according to the poll, which was conducted with the Pew Research Center, there is a pronounced divide between the parties on the question.
Nearly two-thirds of Republicans in the survey (62 percent) said that they prefer politicians who refuse to modify their positions over those who negotiate. A majority (54 percent) of Democrats feel the opposite, favoring compromisers.
The numbers for independents are similar to those of Republicans; just 40 percent commend compromisers over non-compromisers. Blacks also said they prefer politicians who don’t compromise on principles, by 53-35 percent.
Those who identify with the Tea Party are the least likely to prize leaders who compromise. Seven in ten of Tea Party adherents surveyed said they prefer politicians who stick to their guns.
With Republicans enjoying the advantageous end of an enthusiasm gap heading into the midterms, the numbers paint an electoral picture that appears to favor Congressional gridlock.
For many of the voters who cast votes on Nov. 2, that might be precisely the point.
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I believe this is the exact point many of us have been making. While many are fed up with the politics as usual, I think most of us who are rational do NOT believe (like the Tea Party crew) that governance is "...so easy even a cave woman can do it..."
Republicans can't govern. They are hard wired to believe it is their way or the high way. You read it here first. Why would ANYONE vote for a Republican?
I'd vote party-line if the Republicans cut out the religious clap-trap informing their domestic social policies.
It goes back to my all time FAVORITE bumper sticker so far this campaign season which is:
VOTING for a Republican is equivalent to a chicken VOTING for Colonel Sanders!!!
Great analogy by keeping it KISS (keep it simple stupid)...
"Why would ANYONE vote for a Republican?"
Uh- because they were endowed with a 'fully functioning' mouse-brain??
"You read it here first. Why would ANYONE vote for a Republican?"
Because, Clara- they are more interested in what goes on in YOUR bedroom than their own!
And, because they believe in redistribution of wealth.....UPWARD!
Piece o' cake.
Many people say there is no difference between the two parties, and in some ways they may be correct. But I have noticed that one of the basic fundamental philosophical differences between Republicans and Democrats is that Democrats believe that co-operation is the answer, and Republicans believe that competition is the answer. This survey seems to support that perception.
Heartlight, thanks for the laugh. "Democrats believe co-operation is the answer". That's a good one. Cooperation, to ALL politicians, means you do what I want because my team has the majority and your team is a bunch of stupid heads. For the rest of us it means you give a little, get a little and everyone walks away from the table with something.
Can't we ask why anyone would vote for a Democrat?
"With Republicans enjoying the advantageous end of an enthusiasm gap heading into the midterms, the numbers paint an electoral picture that appears to favor Congressional gridlock."
That's an unwarrented conclusion.
In the 1994 mid-terms, 'uncompromising' Republicans swept to power in Congress, and a great many 'compromises' were made with Clinton, and a great deal of legislation was passed and signed by Clinton - including Welfare Reform, and spending cpntrols that led to several years of budget SURPLUSES.
Perhaps we will have a much needed REPEAT of that in November, instead of the "We won, so we don't need to compromise with Republicans" attitude of Nancy Pelosi.
"So easy a cave woman can do it"
That is awesome. You had better copyright that before it becomes a republican campaign slogan.
"Why would ANYONE vote for a Republican?"
Because they are like the Republicans. They are selfish, self-centered. And they are racists. We all have seen all the signs and innuendo since Barack Obama was elected. It is everywhere.
The minorities keep taking it silently, while these teabaggers scream and cry about the most ridiculous of things. They have not been discriminated against. Yet all they do is hate people. Constantly constantly hate people. They have no dignity, no shame. They just want what's coming to them only.
Their hand is forever out. With no concern about the poor. No concern whatsoever.
I couldn't in a million years vote for someone who voted against our military today. Yet millions of Americans will have no problem doing it.
You got your facts all screwed up - It's your POTUS who is the racist! Read the news before you start spouting more BS.
This country is so screwed up right now - your "Change" was for the worst!
When you say dumbass things like "I couldn't in a million years vote for someone who voted against our military today" you lose all credibilty. I don't ever recall this being on Congress ballots!
You simply don't get it, Pat!
Quit believing everything the liberal media tells you and get to know some actual republican voters. Most of us aren't so far off from the middle of the road democrats- you know, the ones who get no face time because they are just as boring as the middle of the road republicans? Our only real difference is the approach we think is best taken to reach the same end we all want.
Hey, Pat-you need to switch to decaf. Your posts are becoming more and more hysterical as the election closes in.
The majority of voters do not like the change Obama brought to town. The Founders set up a system to deal with that-mid-term elections. The voters get to have their say, and their message is that they don't like what Obama has done.
It is that simple, and that American.
No Joe - As much as I disagree with you on policy, I agree with you here. Us liberals need to remain calm and realize that the sun will still rise on November 3rd, even if we take huge losses in the voting booths. Also, Joe is absolutely right that what is happening is quintessentially American.
Since Republicans can only jump us into war if they are in the White House we can live through a more conservative congress for a couple of years. The worst thing that can happen is grid-lock. Over time, this will prove to be a blip on a trajectory towards a more progressive America. The Republicans can't win in the long run due to changing demographics and this lunge to the right will only hasten their demise.
We need to take all of this panicky energy and direct it towards getting out there and promoting our candidates, helping people register to vote, etc.
Pat, not only is the post above way below your standards, it is pure unmitigated bullsh**. Not that it's my place to judge, being a Republican and all.
And for the poster who commented about Republicans wanting to in other bedrooms, I'd just like to say that the only other Republican I've seen in my bedroom is my wife.
Interesting and it does not surprise me that modern republicans and TPers think compromise is bad. That explains the Senate GOP Blockade. Why compromise for the good of the people when "my" base says they'll get rid of me if I do.
Republicans cannot govern because they do not believe Government plays a role in our democracy--they think it is only good for fighting wars......until they need help with a hurricane, flood, or oil spill.
If only Republicans DID believe that government does not have a role in our democracy. Guys like Bush 43 and McCain to often found reasons to involve government in our lives. Using liberal means to conservative ends.
Actually, it is understood that in our civil society that we have the Rule of Law and need some level or government to protect it. The debtate then starts of how much government do we need? I argue for the minimum required to provide for the protection of the Rule of Law and the protection of people and property. I would target the optimum level of government to be between 12-17% of GDP. Currently it is well over 20% of GDP.
And if only we had more legislators like Barry Goldwater today. Barry's check for any new legislation was, "Does it help maximize liberty" Or help obstruct it?" If it maximized it, he was for it, if the legislation obstructed it, he opposed the legislation. Actually, I believe Goldwater would have supported gay rights and the legalization of marijuana.
Wasn't it compromise that John Kerry was referring to when he voted against something before he voted for it?
The Founders built "gridlock" into the system. It is supposed to go slowly. Only then will there be sufficient time and information, from all sides, for the voters to be able to make up their minds. Remember, sure, we could overturn rape laws with 5 men and 1 woman in a room deciding whether rape should be legal.
While I agree with your opening premise, there are plenty of men out here who might take issue with the notion that we'd do that...
Right. That's the point. Change happens slowly in our form of government, otherwise you could get a majority and legalize rape.
I pretty much agree with you Rob, sadly when you say "sufficient time and information" it also means "sufficient time and misinformation". I get frustrated with the whole process when I see members of congress debating on the floor and using information that is easily debunked as false, or flip flopping whenever it is politically convenient to do so. Politics is too political!
Tim, Do you consider yourself smart? 'Nuff said.
Gridlock is not the same thing as careful deliberation, which is more what the founders had in mind. Gridlock, which may be worse this time than what Newt Gingrich engineered in the '90s, could result in the shutdown of federal agencies like the FDA and FAA. If the FDA were shut down for an extended period of time, it would likely result in increased illnesses and deaths from food poisoning and tainted drugs. The shutdown of the FAA might result in air traffic controllers being furloughed, which would lead to shutting down airports. Of course, if you don't eat, take prescription drugs, or travel by air, you'll do just fine.
The problem with gridlock is that things just get kicked down the road. The issues with our budgets, the economy, and other important things never get address.
With the economy and the budget the can has hit the wall, and still each side wants to throw rocks and point fingers. This is a scenario for collapse of our way of life.
Houston, do you realize that there are alternative to the FDA? Do you realize that people die everyday because some drugs don't come out soon enough? This is because the FDA is afraid of getting sued. We could have private agencies come in and perform the same duties as the FDA for less cost and better quality. Private organizations are also more accountable.
Rob.... Private organizations are also more accountable...? Cost less and better quality....?
Wall-Street: AIG, G-Sachs, Enron, Koch International, Arthur Anderson, BP, Transoceanic, Haliburton
Military Industrial: General Dynamics, Aegis, Blackwater, KBR,
Pharma: Vioxx (Merck), Bextra (Searl & Co), Cylert (Abbot Labs)
Any comment on these examples of better quality, lower cost, and greater corporate accountability?
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise! You mean...the Republi-can'ts are black-and-white, good-vs.-evil, my-way-or-the-highway, many-ditto's-Rush idealogues ?!?
never woulda guessed...
Indeed Clara, why would anyone vote for a Republican, it is either or, everything is black and white, no grey areas. No sense of comprise, which makes them bad candidates for political office because as we know, politics is the art of comprise. The TP gang will never go along with anything that is not a pure conservative agenda, for they know if they don't, they will be shunned by their party.
Gridlock will continue and we will be its victims.
Why is this an either or proposition? I want elected officials who are strong in their positions but this doesn't mean compromise can't be reached. Strong in your position, to me at least, means you are consistent- you don't vote in favor of something one day and then oppose it the next. Compromise means you understand that in order to advance the whole yard, sometimes you need to do it in 1 foot intervals or that sometimes it's better to accept half than get nothing. In the real world these things coexist peacefully.
Because it's easier this way.
Canned response #1-Here's a little g-string for that "poll dance"
Canned response #2-First Read likes to post polls that buttress their preconceived beliefs.
Political discourse is okay, but the above is what you're more likely to find here...
Just like the anti-war democrats in the 1960's/70's or the members of ANY movement, back to Simon and the Zealots, compromise is not what they are about. You don't need a poll to tell you that the members of the tea party are generally averse to compromise. It's the nature of the beast.
Jerry, Abby, and Tom and SDS weren't about compromise in 1968 either. As to "gridlock" that generally is the situation in Washington, whether it's the traffic in DuPont circle or the Distinguished Gentle-people in the hallowed halls...
Seven in ten of Tea Party adherents surveyed said they prefer politicians who stick to their guns?
I really find that poll very alarming. Instead of governing the Tea Baggers negate everything they're supposed to be angry about; politicians doing nothing.
I am also alarmed at the level of enthusiasm "Tea Baggers" have for "politicians who stick to their guns". Especially, when there is a twit in Congress, Michelle Bachmann,,who says she wants her citizens to be "Armed and Dangerous". Don't the pollsters know they surveyed a segment of society who don't get subtleties?
I really find that poll very alarming. Instead of governing the Tea Baggers negate everything they're supposed to be angry about; politicians doing nothing.
The numbers for independents are similar to those of Republicans; just 40 percent commend compromisers over non-compromisers. Blacks also said they prefer politicians who don't compromise on principles, by 53-35 percent.
So to clarify; How much over 50% is alarming?
53%-no alarm (African Americans)
60%-no alarm(independents)
One should hold off their "alarm" until around 69 percent?
Why aren't you ALSO "alarmed" at the level of enthusiasm "Tea Baggers", "independents", and "AA's"
have for "politicians who stick to their guns".
Selective outrage, even at something as nebulous as this poll is the hallmark of hypocrisy.
I doubt if Tea Party members see any efforts to compromise with them.
It is truly sad that our society today is divided over whether or not to compromise. How in the hell do people think this country got to where it was as a world leader----by compromise.
How do families work out difficult day to day problems----by compromise
How do people interact with each other without being able to compromise?
How would anything ever get accomplished without being able to compromise? To answer that is the violent swing from the right to the left and back again without stopping somewhere in the middle. That would describe our current society, we swing far right, then far left and back again and we make things even worse by doing this.
Remember Rome fell and just about every great nation has before us, if we don't wake up and stop this mad cycle, so will we, and we don't have to worry about some else destroying us because we will have accomplished this all by ourselves!
Someone will always think their way is better than a compromise.
What is funny is that on both the Health care Reform and Financial Reform bills the Dems DID compromise with the Repubs. The Repubs are the ones who added the portion about Requiring everybody to Buy HC from the insurers and also are partly responsible for the severe watering down of the Financial reform, yet the Repubs, after all of their input to get the bills to where They wanted them, they voted against them anyways. The Dems DO work on the idea of cooperation while the Repubs are working in lockstep and voting down EVERYTHING unanimously; that is Not cooperation.
Presently the Dems fill the whole old style political spectrum, from very liberal to conservative and have to cooperate even within their party. The Repubs have shifted so far to the right that even their moderates would be considered out on the fringe to the old style Repub politicians and vote in lockstep at the command of their nebulous 'leaders'. The Repubs in office seem to totally disdain the idea of cooperation, they just want POWER, not that they know how to use it for anything other than to make the Too-Rich-To-fail crowd even richer at the cost of the rest of us, whether this means taking us into illegal wars or not. The Repubs decry 'Large Government' but we always see the largest increases in the bureaucracy during Repub Administrations. They decry deficit spending yet the largest deficit spending by far has Always come during Repub Admins. The Repubs decry Pres. Obama spending money to keep people afloat and provide jobs during this extreme recession yet so quickly do people forget that we spent our way out of the Great Depression with WWII by hiring people for the great war machine that has never been dismantled since and the efforts to actually win that war. WWII was a HUGE amount of deficit spending that was offset by us charging the enemies we fought and those we defended for our war effort. So quickly do people forget how much money Bush kept off the books with his two wars, the Medicare part D and the expansion of our intelligence agencies by creating Homeland Security, hiring hundreds of thousands of people that have not actually increased our security, spy on US yet do nothing to stop white collar crimes, but get massive wages anyways.
The Tea Partiers are the EXTREME right fringe of the Repubs, the ones that they have been careful in the past to not let into office, yet now, since they were heavily funded by billionaires and Repub operatives, have turned on their Repub supporters and kicked several moderate Repubs out of contention for office. They have NO intention of compromising on ANYTHING that is not THEIR way of doing things, things that we know from experience are NOT the correct way to govern. They would take us back to the times before there were many of the civil protections that we ALL enjoy due to many decades of prior cooperation in crafting laws that are fair to ALL of us.
The Dems, in general, and this Administration specifically are willing to cooperate and compromise in order to govern well. Te Repubs seem to be totally against compromise OR cooperation and have proven their inability to govern at all. That is the difference between the parties presently!
dangerfield
Why aren't you ALSO "alarmed" at the level of enthusiasm "Tea Baggers", "independents", and "AA's"
Did you notice those percentages did not favor gridlocks or guns?
Did you notice you truncated your own sentence? Did you notice that "sticking to your guns" was the author's choice of phrase? Did you know that it translates into...
stick to one's guns
Fig. to remain firm in one's convictions; to stand up for one's rights. (Fig. on a soldier remaining in place to fire a gun even when all appears to be lost.) I'll stick to my guns on this matter. I'm sure I'm right. Bob can be persuaded to do it our way. He probably won't stick to his guns on this point.
The numbers are what they are, your interpretation is incorrect and based on the language of the article. None of the "percentages" expressed your mistaken sentiments...sorry
Might one add here that both houses of Congress are meant to be deliberative bodies -- to listen to arguments, to consider them, to discuss them and then to vote. One of the things that is very annoying is the fact that members of Congress are being paid to do nothing -- to obstruct, to waste time, to filibuster, to hand out disinformation. If people don't like that sort of behavior in the public at large, why accept it from members of Congress?
It seems the easiest route.
No surprise that the Republicans have such a high level of resistance to compromise. With Rush L. having so much power (perceived or otherwise) within the Republican ranks, the slightest hint of moving from the party line gets that person labeled as a RINO, traitor, Etc. That in turn cuts their funding and has people filing in that persons district to run against them. Why compromise if it is going to effect my well being? I would say that most Republicans don't compromise out of basic survival.
I don't see that sort of lashing out at Democrats that decide to depart from the party line so their ability to compromise is easier.
(For the record, I'm very much a moderate that has voted for both parties over the years) Thought I better get that in now....
Avoid becoming cyanotic!
Times are tough. Many of those U.S. taxpayers who are lucky enough to still have jobs are working at a reduced income because either their hours have been cut or their base salary has been cut. Now add to that the fact that the true cost of living (that which includes food and energy) has gone up considerably in the last 2 years, and you have the recipe for serious problems if taxes are increased now.
If the truth was known and everyone was considered, 21.7% of potential U.S. taxpayers are currently unemployed. 40.2 million Americans are currently on food stamps and the Whitehouse estimates that 43.3 million U.S. citizens will be on food stamps by the end of the 2011 fiscal year.
Over 900,000 homes were foreclosed on during 2009 and we are on track to hit over 1,000,000 foreclosures during 2010. Now keep in mind that the average number of foreclosures in the 10 years preceding 2009 was only 100,000 homes per year.
Even though the government handed-out insane amounts of money to banks over the last 2 years, fewer small businesses were able to get loans than at any time during the last 17 years.
Jobs have been shipped to countries off shore at a crippling rate and foreign nationals have been brought in to perform many jobs recently held by U.S. citizens, displacing those taxpaying U.S. citizens . . . and, this trend continues unabated. In the meanwhile, the current administration does not promote the creation of legislation that would stop this trend and Congress is busy working on even more programs that will increase taxes for all U.S. citizens.
The government has stopped all cost of living increases for Social Security recipients for at least 2 years if not more, while the federal reserve has all but frozen interest rates at near zero, resulting in the inability of those on fixed incomes to generate decent return on their retirement investments.
It certainly appears that the President and Congress are far more concerned with helping illegal immigrants gain citizenship (AND THE VOTE) than they are about keeping U.S. families in their homes and well fed.
Now the current administration wants to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire resulting on increased taxes for all Americans.
What is wrong with this picture folks?
If you believe that the current administration and Congress are interested in helping the U.S. citizen and taxpayer, then you must also believe in the tooth fairy, Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny. The facts I have described above cannot possibly be part of a program designed to help the American people. In my opinion, the programs put in place by the current Administration and Congress are far more likely to bring our country to third world status than they are to restore its greatness. We have been on a downhill slope that gets steeper every day since 2006. We have reached a point where before we help other countries, we must first help ourselves.
Look around you. Examine the facts of what has happened and is happening. Compare where we were vs. where we are now and where we appear to be headed. Stop listening to the politicians, open your eyes, and see for yourself. You must understand that if you continue to rely on the current crew of supposed leaders to do your breathing for you, you will soon be turning blue!
Interesting post... First of all, I agree that DC doesn't seem to have the welfare of the country and the people in mind and it has been the case for many years. DC has become a den of thieves and vipers; poisonous to the country.
The Bush tax cuts were nice and fun and all; a fine experiment. It failed to create jobs and the numbers show it. We all wish that we could keep them but they need to expire. The country has bills to pay. They should expire for the rich and they should expire even for the not rich but only if the money is used to pay down the debt. Does anybody really think that will happen? Regardless of party....
The problem with the US is that we have become so spoiled that we think we should be dominant by default. The rest of the developing world is willing to sell it's work force for basement prices and our companies are happy to buy up the cheap labor. We also want cheap goods so we buy the goods created by the cheap labor in other countries so jobs and money go over seas.
Solve that problem and you've solved 50 percent of our countries problems.
The other problem is our barbie and ken lifestyle glorifies stupidity and laziness...Which feeds right in with the American sense of entitlement the vast majority of citizens feel. Give me porn, violence, new clothes, twitter, Lady GaGa, and IPad, World Of Warcraft and a new vibrator but don't ask me to actually 'do' anything...
The number of college grad's is dropping, science and math continues to suffer but in third world countries those numbers are reversed. They love to learn. They love their country. They have work ethics born of third world pestilence and the escape from the same. We wont compete with that. Notice I didn't say "can't". We wont. We are too lazy and ignorant and too busy clicking "Like" on Facebook.
Those fired up and excited developing nations will be taking all of our best paying jobs for half of the pay and they will be revelling in it! Meanwhile, we will continue to become a trailer park filled with spoiled, fat, angry, little has beens caught up in blaming each other for our own demise. "It's the Republicans! It's the Democrats! It's the illegal aliens! It's the lack of 'God' in our government! It's the religious wingnuts! It's the homosexuals!"
To hell with playing a fiddle. We have forgotten how. Besides, we'll be too busy beating each other's brains out while Rome burns.
Hey, Rich. Glad to hear your wife is in your bedroom.
The fact is that the pub's want to pass laws that would effect who was in your bedroom and what you could do in there. They also want to put laws into the wombs of women...Women who had unprotected sex, women who wanted to finish college or felt they were to old to have a child...women who were raped by their relatives or strangers.
On a more personal level they want me to pay some rich person's taxes and, you know Rich, I resent the f**k out of that. Rich people want to be rich? Wonderful! But, how about stay the hell outa my pocket, Rich greedy azzholes. God knows, they don't want anyone in theirs...
Health Care reform and more needs to be adjusted and fine tuned but repealing things won’t solve the problems and instead would just put us back where we were before – in real trouble with only Special Interests satisfied. What really needs to be repealed is the Republicans for what they have become – just ‘puppets’ for the very few who ‘pull their strings’. To firmly reject them would allow for progress to occur instead of stepping backwards and returning to ‘more of the same’ that caused the problems and that has cost us so much. Their actions clearly demonstrate that they don’t care about anything other than their political ambitions as they arrogantly and unconscionably neglect responsibilities and don’t hesitate to be totally dishonest in trying to deceive and manipulate public opinion. And the Tea Party cloak simply doesn’t hide their real identity and intent. Their gross dishonesty and aggressive deception constantly being perpetrated should be totally obvious and then fair warning. Should the voters not see and understand all of that, it could be a very costly catastrophe as again only the few would gain and once more the vast majority would loose. We really need to avoid being conned and reject the creative subterfuge aimed to justify a return to ‘more of the same’.