The Wall Street Journal‘s editors write that the president’s plunge below 50 percent for the first time in their poll shows that “his agenda is turning the public against activist government.” Voters were queried as to whether “government should do more to solve problems and help meet the needs of people” or if “government is doing too many things better left to businesses and individuals”:

Some 47% … replied that they thought government is doing too much, while only 44% believed that it should do more. That’s a striking change since February, when the views were reversed, with 51% saying the government should do more, and only 40% saying do less.

Even more startling, in the latest survey only 18% said they trusted government to do the right thing “most of the time,” down from a high of 36% in July 2004 and 27% in August 2005. Some 32% said they trusted government to do the right thing “almost never,” up from single digits in earlier surveys when it was a volunteered response.

That is a far different take from that of the Obama spinners, who contend it’s all inevitable or someone else’s fault.

The poll numbers in the Wall Street Journal and other surveys do have some real-world support. In the two high-profile gubernatorial races, the Republican candidates ran on platforms of reduced taxes and spending. In Virginia, Bob McDonnell was exceptionally specific in detailing the parade of big-government policies that he opposed (cap-and-trade, ObamaCare, card check). It was an overwhelmingly successful message even before support dropped sharply for ObamaCare. It’s not unreasonable to conclude that McDonnell caught the upswing in anti-government fury, which has not yet peaked.

The Obama team would have us believe that the public will learn to love ObamaCare. But continued polling — and the 2010 elections — will demonstrate just how fervent is the opposition to Obama’s “enormous and helter-skelter expansions of the federal government.” From ObamaCare to Climategate, the voters have shown themselves remarkably impervious to the self-serving spin of elites.

+ A A -
You may also like
Share via
Copy link