Somehow, I doubt the Republicans are likely to have much luck with their “But you wouldn’t really want [shudder] Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to be in charge of Congress, would you?” pitch.
CNN Poll conducted by Opinion Research Corporation. Oct. 13-15, 2006. N=1,012 adults nationwide.
“Do you think the policies being proposed by the Republican leaders in the U.S. House and Senate would move the country in the right direction or the wrong direction?” Half sample, MoE ± 4.5
Right Wrong
August 2-3 43 43
October 13-15 36 53
“Do you think the policies being proposed by the Democratic leaders in the U.S. House and Senate would move the country in the right direction or the wrong direction?” Half sample, MoE ± 4.5
Right Wrong
August 2-3 41 44
October 13-15 53 35
Via Polling Report.
The problem with trying to scare voters with the specter of Nancy Pelosi is that most voters have no idea who she is, and name recognition is an essential criterion for effective bugbearhood.
On second thought, maybe the idea is that there are enough sexists out there that the appeal can work as long as the bugbear’s name is recognizably female — that much of the public will recoil in horror from the prospect of having a woman as a leader, even if they know nothing about her. Fortunately that doesn’t seem to be true.
Equally interesting is CNN’s Aug. 30 poll ( http://www.pollingreport.com/bush.htm ): “Do you think it would be good for the country or bad for the country if the Democrats in Congress were able to conduct official investigations into what the Bush Administration has done in the past six years?” “Good” won by 57-41.