Poll: Majority Wants Bigger Government

[babylonsister]

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/president-obama/poll-majority-wants-bigger-government/

Poll: Majority Wants Bigger Government


The other day I ventured that President Obama was well on his way to breaking the “big government versus small government” frame that has had a stranglehold on our discourse for so long.

Now check out these numbers from the internals of the new NBC/WSJ poll:

I’m going to read you two statements about the role of government, and I’d like to know which one comes closer to your point of view.

Statement A: Government should do more to solve problems and help meet the needs of people: 51%

Statement B: Government is doing too many things better left to businesses and individuals: 40%

I love the smell of clarity in the morning.

That’s the first time a clear majority has supported bigger government in this poll since last July. What’s striking is that the poll was taken after Obama’s big budget speech, when the magnitude of his proposals became clear to the public.

It’s true that the poll also finds that a whopping majority of 61% are concerned that the government will spend too much to fix the economy, versus 29% who are worried it will spend too little. But I think that’s in line with other polling that shows that solid majorities want an expanded role for government despite being well aware of, and concerned about, the cost of it.

Bottom line: Polls are demonstrating that Obama and Dems have an extraordinary opportunity on their hands to shift the public’s view of the role government should play in their lives for a generation. Success at this is anything but assured, obviously, but the opportunity is clearly there for the seizing.

Relatedly, Matthew Yglesias has some choice thoughts along these lines.