I have to admit that I read the Washington Post piece on GOP anti-stimulus strategy with a bit of glee. Replete with photo of an arrogant Rush Limbaugh the article cited various and sundry Republican officials who believe in their heart of hearts that opposing the stimulus is the key to their return from the wilderness.

What really struck me was a quote from Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin who claimed that “You can’t walk down the street in Janesville, Wisconsin, without someone trashing [the stimulus].” Really?

This the same Janesville, Wisconsin that just witnessed the closing of its Chevy Tahoe plant – one that lasted more than 90 years. Are the people of Janesville really trashing the stimulus for its excessive pork barrel spending? Without polling of that southern Wisconsin town it’s impossible to know.

But if new nation-wide polling from Gallup is any indication, the people of Janesville are probably trashing their conservative ideologue Representative more than they are the stimulus bill.

It turns out that a supermajority of Americans support President Obama on the stimulus bill. By a 67-25 margin, the pubic approves of the way Obama has handled the stimulus package.

This isn’t terribly surprising given the overall popularity of Obama in his honeymoon phase. Even Republican opponents of the bill have taken to praising Obama for his bipartisan appeal.

But what about the Congressional Democrats? Surely they must be deeply unpopular, tagged and mocked as pork barrel spenders and clingers to liberal special interest groups, right? And the Congressional Republicans, whom the Washington Post just claimed to have finally found their voice and tapped into a deep popular anger against pork barrel spending and “generational theft,” are more popular than Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi’s gang, right?

Wrong.

A plurality of respondents approves of the role that the “Democrats in Congress” have played in the stimulus debate, 48-42. Seems the public isn’t so outraged with Pelosi and Reid after all.

What about those suddenly principled Republicans?
The public DISAPPROVES of them by a 58-31 margin.

Again, we have a unified Republican Party heading toward suicide, holding desperately to a time warped 1980s-era ideology, and viewed as fighting the wrong fight.

I am reminded now why I felt so gleeful watching the Republicans cheerfully opposing the stimulus. I’ll be sure to peer over the cliff to watch the GOP wreckage below knowing that at least one party is trying to fix the economy.

UPDATE: Here’s one Gallup graphic that illustrates the polls’ findings:

And here are some more:

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And this one that shows the partisan divide (and Obama’s support from independent voters):

Here is the breakdown in support for Obama, Congressional Democrats and Congressional Republicans:

For more weblog reaction go HERE.