http://www.polising.com/2010/08/telling-change-of-tune.htmlA Telling Change of Tune
Jonathan Singer
As conservatives delight in the debate over the placement of an Islamic cultural center in lower Manhattan, listen to what they aren't saying as much as you listen to what they are saying. For all of the over-the-top rhetoric -- and there is a great deal of it -- the implicit admission of this effort to score political points on the issue of terror speaks loudly.
While the right talks terror, they're not talking the economy. Common wisdom would hold that at a time of high unemployment, high deficits and low consumer confidence, the party out of power should be able to clean up on the issue of the economy (think 1992, 1982, and 1958; or 1932, for that matter).
The problem is, though, that for all the economic woes facing the country, the issue simply has not been sufficiently potent for the GOP. Yes, Barack Obama's approval rating on the issue of the economy is in the tank, with just 38 percent voicing approval and a whopping 59 percent voicing disapproval, according to the latest numbers from Gallup. Yet when asked who they trust more to handle the economy, Republicans don't significantly outpace the President (besting him by a single point, 42 percent to 41 percent, according to Quinnipiac polling) and they actually trail congressional Democrats (by a 43 percent to 39 percent margin, per Time's latest polling).
The main reason for this, of course, is quite simple: George W. Bush. When asked by Quinnipiac who is to blame for the current condition of the U.S. economy overwhelmingly states Bush over Obama (53 percent to 25 percent). When asked by Pew and National Journal whether it would be better to follow the economic policies of the Bush administration or the Obama administration going forward, 46 percent backed the current President while just 29 percent backed his predecessor.
But it is not just about George W. Bush. The Republicans continue to stake out the wrong position on the economy. When CNN polled on the recent state aid package to save thousands of jobs around the country -- legislation opposed by all but two Republican Senators and all but two House Republicans -- fully 60 percent of respondents backed the bill. A mere 30 percent of Americans agree with the Republicans' stance of extending the Bush tax cuts for everyone, rather than repealing either all of the tax cuts or just those for high income earners (per Pew/National Journal polling).
With Republicans failing to capitalize on the weakness of the economy, it's little wonder the right is trying to turn the country's focus away from economics and towards terror. But considering that poll after poll this year has shown Americans care much more about the economy than about any other topic, it's far from clear to me that this change of tune is going to pay political dividends for conservatives.
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