If there was ever truly bad news for the White House and the Republican party, the latest Gallup poll is definitively it:
A new Gallup Poll will only reinforce those who claim that while the rich get richer most Americans don’t feel they are sharing in the growth in our economy. The stock market may be climbing and the unemployment remains relatively low, but 7 in 10 Americans believe the economy is getting worse — the most negative reading in nearly six years.
Only one in three Americans rate the economy today as either excellent or good, while the percentage saying the economy is getting better fell from 28% to 23% in one month.
You don’t want to overstate a poll and use the word “catastrophic” but this comes close to a required usage. The most fundamental axiom in politics is that people “vote their pocketbooks.” A good economy has sometimes carried a weak or beset President or party through troubled times.
But both the polling results and the trending here suggest that neither optimistic official or party statements about the future or statements about how good things are in the economy are producing desired results where results count — in the attitudes of most voters:
Gallup adds: “For the first time this year, a majority of Americans are negative about the employment market, saying it is a bad time to find a quality job.”
The 70% negative rating is up 10 points since April. Also, just in the past month, there has been a significant five-point drop, from 28% to 23%, in the percentage saying conditions are getting better.
And if you look at the specific areas of dissatisfaction, it further spells t-r-o-u-b-l-e:
“When asked about the most pressing financial problems their family faces today, Americans mention healthcare costs, lack of money or low wages, and oil and gas prices,” Gallup reports. “Healthcare costs are mentioned by 16% of Americans while 13% say low wages and 11% say oil and gas prices. These percentages are virtually unchanged from last month.”
All of this suggests (again) that unless there is some major shift for the better, Democrats will be running on George Bush’s record in 2008 and Republicans will be running away from it. And New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg may have some fun pointing to how both parties have seemingly made a mess of it.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.