Gallup: Independent voters on the rise

From Gallup comes this interesting although not surprising news about voter identification:

Forty-two percent of Americans, on average, identified as political independents in 2013, the highest Gallup has measured since it began conducting interviews by telephone 25 years ago. Meanwhile, Republican identification fell to 25%, the lowest over that time span. At 31%, Democratic identification is unchanged from the last four years but down from 36% in 2008.

Gallup concludes, "The rise in political independence is likely an outgrowth of Americans' record or near-record negative views of the two major U.S. parties, of Congress, and their low level of trust in government more generally." See the complete survey here.

Former President Bush 43 sees popularity rise

As clearly shown on this Gallup chart, former President George W. Bush's favorable ratings are now higher than his unfavorable for the first time since 2005. He spent his second term in office being pounded on by the left but, after four years of staying busy but keeping a low public profile, the President's ratings are on the mend. Glad to see it ... he deserves it.

Gallup: 81% of Americans unhappy with government

It continues to be unsettled out there. Politico reports:

An overwhelming majority of respondents, 81 percent, said that they are not satisfied with the governance of the country, compared to 19 percent who are satisfied, according to Gallup.

The article continues:

“Americans’ various ratings of political leadership in Washington add up to a profoundly negative review of government — something that would seem unhealthy for the country to endure for an extended period,” Gallup wrote. “Nevertheless, with another budget showdown looking inevitable and a contentious presidential election year getting underway, it appears the ratings reviewed here could get worse before they improve.”

It's time to elect representatives who are interested in the best interests of those they will represent.

Poll: Democrats are in trouble

Michael Barone, the Washington Examiner's senior political analyst, caught my attention when he reported on the new Gallup poll:

Wow! The Gallup organization reports that on the generic ballot question—which party’s candidate would you vote for in Congress—Republicans currently lead Democrats 49%-43%. That’s the biggest Republican lead since Gallup began asking the question in 1950—and in fact Republicans have seldom been ahead in those 60 years. More bad news for the Democrats: 39% of Republicans say they’re enthusiastic about voting, compared to 25% of Independents and 24% of Democrats.

He goes on to say Democrats will continue to win but added:

But Democrats are in trouble, as I argued in my Sunday Examiner column, on both competence and ideology—a pretty lethal combination.

Wow, is right. We'll be watching the polls between now and November as Republicans roll up their shirt sleeves and get to work.

President George W. Bush most admired American

For the sixth year in a row, President George W. Bush topped the Gallup poll's list of most admired Americans in a poll conducted each December. See the poll numbers here.