Independents Favor #GOP on the Economy by Whopping 46%-30% Margin

From Andrew Kohut, at WSJ, "The GOP Is in Better Shape Than You Think":

Tucked away in recent polls—which have documented the extraordinary anger directed at the Republican Party during the shutdown crisis—are measures of clear disappointment with the Democratic Party. The disappointment is substantial, and it raises big questions about the 2014 midterms.

The Republican Party's favorable ratings fell substantially in most every national survey that uses this yard stick, declining to 28% in the Gallup poll at one point. Yet when the GOP was matched up against the Democrats on key political measures, it did not look so bad.

A mid-October Pew Research national poll found that a plurality regard the Republicans as "better able to deal with the economy" than the Democrats (44%-37%). Independents favored the GOP on the economy by a whopping 46%-30% margin in that survey.

The Republicans took most of the blame for the shutdown, yet a growing number see the GOP as "better able to manage the government." In December 2012, the Democratic Party held a 45%-36% advantage over the GOP as the party Americans viewed as better able to manage the government. By Oct. 15—in the midst of the shutdown and debt crisis—the Democratic lead on this measure disappeared: 42% said the Republican Party is better able to manage the federal government, compared with 39% who named the Democrats.

An early read of voter preferences for the House in 2014 by the Pew Research Center in mid-October had the Democrats with a six-point edge: 49% to 43% among registered voters. In historical terms, this is a relatively modest margin. Six points is the same lead the Democrats had in 2009, a lead that steadily eroded in 2010. The GOP picked up six Senate seats and 63 House seats in that year's midterm.

One clear troubling sign for the Democrats at this early stage is independent voters, who decide most elections. They are evenly divided, according to Pew's mid-October survey: 43% say that "if the elections for Congress were being held today," they would vote for the Republican candidate in their district, 43% say they would vote for the Democratic candidate.

It is not too much of an oversimplification to say that Democrats are struggling because President Obama is struggling.

Look, the Democrats are screwed.

Things are only going to get worse now, a year out from the 2014 midterms. Obama never says he's sorry, for anything. Forget his pathetic, passive mealy-mouthed "I'm sorry people find themselves in this position..." non-apology. Obama took an angry earful from Senate Democrats in the "secret" White House meeting yesterday. They're clearly to the point of panic and will to do anything to shift the debate away from the ObamaCare debacle. Funny, but this cheesy non-apology only opens the door for the ultimate confession: that the Democrats committed massive, despicable fraud on the American people. The reckoning is coming next year, and if you're on the left, it's going to be harsh. A bitter wake up call.

More at the link.