Informed Speculation

Some very interesting results from a post-election poll by Newsweek:

Just about everyone believes the Republicans lost the 2006 midterms more than the Democrats won it. Presented with a list of factors that may have contributed to the Democrats’ success, 85 percent of Americans said the “major reason” was disapproval of the administration’s handling of the war in Iraq, 71 percent said disapproval of Bush’s overall job performance, 67 percent cited dissatisfaction with how Republicans have handled government spending and the deficit, 63 percent said disapproval of the overall performance of Republicans in Congress, 61 percent said Democrats’ ideas and proposals for changing course in Iraq. Tellingly, just 27 percent said a major reason the Democrats won was because they had better candidates.

So much for the Nutroots® spin…

And, though clearly the country has moved left, it hasn’t moved TOO far left:

The good news for Democrats is that voters believe they know their mandate is limited. Half of all Americans, 50 percent, say Democrats will take a moderate approach, compared to 34 percent who believe they will try to take the country in a more liberal direction. Not surprisingly, Republicans are most skeptical: 52 percent believe the Democrats will try to push America to the left while 37 percent believe they will be more moderate.

And there’s massive support for much of the Democratic Congress’s presumed agenda. For instance, 75 percent of Americans say allowing the government to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices for seniors should be a “top priority,” including 67 percent of Republicans. Increasing the minimum wage comes next (68 percent) on the public’s list, followed by investigating government contracts in Iraq (60 percent).

There’s less support for rolling back Bush’s tax cuts: 40 percent say that should be a top priority and 24 percent say it shouldn’t be done at all. And since the election, Americans have become slightly less interested in investigating impropriety and wrongdoing by members of Congress. The number of Americans who think this should be a top priority has dropped from 62 to 55 percent.

Overall, however, the public wants Congress and the president to put Iraq and national security before domestic issues like the economy and health care, by a margin of 51 to 33 percent.

There are some 2008 nuggets, as well:

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton registers the highest level of strong support, with 33 percent of registered voters saying there’s a good chance they would vote for her and 20 percent saying there’s some chance. But she also has high negatives: 45 percent of registered voters say there’s no chance they would vote for her. Similarly, 24 percent of registered voters say there’s a good chance they would vote for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and 27 percent says there’s some chance; but 43 percent say there’s no chance.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain have lower negatives: 24 percent of registered voters say there’s a good chance they would vote for Giuliani, 30 percent say there’s some chance, and 32 percent say there’s no chance. Twenty percent say there’s a good chance they would vote for McCain, 34 percent say there’s some chance, and 32 percent say there’s no chance.

Twenty percent of voters also say there’s a good chance they would vote for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, while 19 percent say there’s some chance and 24 percent say there’s no chance. More than a third of voters, 34 percent, say they’ve never heard of him.

Also-rans include former Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry (16 percent good chance, 24 percent some chance, and 55 percent no chance) and Newt Gingrich (10 percent good chance, 17 percent some chance, and 58 percent no chance).

I sincerely hope that the latest shennanigans have not convinced Kerry not to run. As a conservative blogger, I need the easy comic relief he provides…