Usually, when we talk about bad polls, we're talking about approval ratings. If a politician is under 50 or 40 percent, they - and their party -know things aren't going well. That's normally when the spin machine kicks in. However, sometimes, you see a poll that is so epically bad that you have to wonder how they can look at the results and carry on.
Today is one of those days.
A new Economist/Yougov poll was conducted on February 6th and 7th. The results were released today. If you're part of the Obama administration, or a Democrat seeking re-election, you may want to sit down. The results are some of the most damning numbers we've seen in ages.
The poll asked people who voted for Obama during the 2012 election a very basic question: "Do you regret voting for Barack Obama?”
71% of the total respondents answered "yes."
80% of white voters said "yes"
100% of Latino voters said "yes"
61% of men said "yes"
84% of women said "yes"
77% of voters age 35-44 said "yes"
77% of voters age 45-64 said "yes"
100% of voters over 65 said "yes"
71% of independents said "yes"
100% of Republicans who were dumb enough to cast an Obama ballot said "yes"
Perhaps more amazingly 55% of Democrats who voted to re-elect Barack Obama admitted that they regret their decision. The only group that still seems to think an Obama vote was a good idea are black voters, 26% of whom answered "yes" and 13% of whom answered "not sure."
The poll was conducted as a sort of toe-in-the-water to test the possibility of a Mitt Romney comeback. I'm not sure who's hoping that will happen but, whoever they are, they're not going to be thrilled with the results. Despite all the regrets, if the election were held again, 79% of Obama voters would stick with their vote and stand by Obama.
Essentially, that means that - had they known how Obama's disastrous 2nd term would play out - Romney might have won by about 3 million votes. Obviously, though, this assumes everything else would stay the same. From Yougov:
Clearly Romney fares better, although he had fewer voters to begin with. As a proportion of the voters each of them actually received in 2012 (66 million for Obama and 61 million for Romney), the GOP candidate ends up with 55 million votes retained to Obama’s 52 million. Not exactly a wipeout. It’s also unclear for any poll that hypothetically revisits 2012 how much it says about renewed hope for Mitt Romney – who has notably been liberated from the scrutiny of a presidential campaign – rather than about dissatisfaction with an incumbent president who has spent the last year defending his administration over leaks, scandals and ObamaCare roll-outs.
Sadly, the poll also finds that people appear to be more than willing to repeat their mistakes. While left-leaners might be eager to leave the Obama era in the dust, they're also ready to support Hillary Clinton. She enjoys a 50% favorable opinion, with 28% of that falling into the "very favorable" category. No one should underestimate that latter number.
The bottom line here is that, while a broad spectrum of people have recognized that Obama's second term has been a complete train wreck, they're willing to do it all over again, and they probably will - if the GOP offers them another Romney-esque candidate.
Anyone think the Republicans will learn from their mistakes?
