posted on January 19, 2007 10:25:19 PM new
Most respondents say Democrats have failed to provide a clear new national direction. But their bills have support.
By Janet Hook, Times Staff Writer
January 19, 2007
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan majority of Americans strongly supports the bills that whisked through the House in the first days of the Democratic-controlled Congress, but many remain uncertain about where the party wants to lead the nation, a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found.
Approval of Congress has increased since the midterm elections ousted Republicans from their House and Senate majorities, and Democrats are viewed in a more positive light after two weeks in power, according to the survey.
But only 25% of those surveyed believed Democrats have formulated a clear direction for the country; 58% said they had failed to.
Those results amount to a mixed report card on the much-ballyhooed "100-hour" agenda House Democrats set for themselves as they took power.
They made a strong start with House passage of some broadly popular bills, such as an increase in the minimum wage and a cut in student-loan rates, which passed with significant Republican support. It was a rare display of bipartisanship after years of the party-line splits that marked GOP control.
'So far, so good'
But the survey underscores that Democrats still have much to prove to voters as the Senate debates these bills and lawmakers in both chambers turn to more divisive issues, such as the federal budget, global warming and Iraq.
Overall, the poll found 36% approve of how Congress is doing its job — hardly a mandate, but up from 30% in September.
"So far, so good," said Hildegard Wharton, a retiree in Wooster, Ohio, who responded to the poll.
Wharton, a Democrat, added, "I hope they do a better job than the Republicans. If they don't, they are not going to get reelected."
The Times/Bloomberg poll, supervised by Times Poll Director Susan Pinkus, surveyed 1,344 adults by telephone Saturday through Tuesday. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
It found that pressure is especially high for Democrats to change course in Iraq; 45% identified the war as the most important issue for the new Congress to address, a far higher figure than for any other issue.
"If they just tackle this war and get these boys home, they will be doing good," said Jerry Alexander, a retired car salesman in Savannah, Tenn., who is an independent. "They better, because that's what they were elected for."
The positive reaction among those polled to the major elements of the initial Democratic agenda ratifies the political strategy behind its design: Party leaders deliberately filled the congressional session's opening hours with issues that, for the most part, polls have found enjoyed broad bipartisan support and were likely to pass before President Bush's State of the Union address on Tuesday. One aim was to provide a contrast with the gridlock that stalled many bills during the recent years of the Republican-controlled Congress.
"When I talk to liberals, I don't expect them to understand my positions on various issues. I spend most of my time trying to help them understand their own." —Mike Adams
