Colorado Poll: Obama Craters, Hillary Trails Christie, Ryan, Paul; Tied with Cruz

Colorado Poll: Obama Craters, Hillary Trails Christie, Ryan, Paul; Tied with Cruz

Guy Benson | Nov 20, 2013

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Katie walked you through this morning's CBS News poll showing Barack Obama's approval rating bleeding to a new low of (37/57), with Obamacare support tanking to (31/61). If those are the national numbers, imagine what the president's standing must look like in places like, say, Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina. One swing state that has trended blue since 2004 is Colorado, where Republicans have begun to struggle in major statewide races.

There have been a few glimmers of hope in the Rocky Mountain state over the last few months, but can the GOP begin to reverse nearly a decade of erosion? A new Quinnipiac survey of Coloradans suggests that Democrats' position of strength in the state is in real peril:

- The president's job approval number is upside down by 23 points (36/59). This is a state he carried by five points one year ago. Obamacare is unpopular (40/56), and respondents split blame for the government shutdown nearly evenly between Obama and Congressional Republicans. - Incumbent Sen. Mark Udall appears vulnerable in his 2014 re-election bid, failing to break 45 percent support against all potential challengers mentioned in the poll. By a 47-41 margin, Colorado voters say he does not deserve another term in office. His fellow Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet, who isn't up until 2016, has a weak job approval rating of 39 percent. - In hypothetical 2016 presidential match-ups, Hillary Clinton trails three Republicans, and is tied with another:

Gov. Chris Christie 46 / Hillary Clinton 38
Sen. Rand Paul 47 / Hillary Clinton 44
Rep. Paul Ryan 45 / Hillary Clinton 43
Sen. Ted Cruz 44 / Hillary Clinton 44

Presidential polling three years away from an election is silliness, but Clinton's very mediocre showing in this poll indicates that Obama's troubles are dragging down his whole party.

Congressional Democrats know it, which is why they're flipping out and venting to the media. And I'd be willing to bet that most voters aren't yet aware that Obamacare is Hillarycare. Charles Krauthammer called Hillary a "paper tiger" on Hugh Hewitt's radio show last night. Might he be onto something?

“Every single one can beat Hillary. Hillary’s a paper tiger,” the conservative columnist said, according to a transcript. “Hillary was inevitable in ’08 and what happened to inevitability? I don’t think she’s that, I think she can win, of course. And I think she’ll get the nomination by acclamation for religious reasons.”

Parting thought, via centrist wonk Megan McArdle: Is Obamacare repeal more plausible than ever?

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybens...-cruz-n1750315

Brutal Quinnipiac poll of Colorado: Obama’s job approval at 36/59, Hillary now trails three Republican contenders

posted at 4:01 pm on November 20, 2013 by Allahpundit

The worst state poll of his presidency? It’s his worst Quinnipiac state poll for sure, by their own admission, which is significant for two reasons. One: Colorado is, of course, a famously purple state and bellwether, one which helped Bush to the presidency in 2000 and 2004 and then broke for Obama in 2008 and 2012. The One is used to seeing his job approval 20 points underwater or more in red states, but Colorado hasn’t been a red state at the presidential level in nearly a decade. Lots of rehab work to be done by Democrats before the midterms.

Two: This may be early evidence that the O-Care debacle is spilling over into perceptions of other Democrats, specifically the nominee-in-waiting. Hillary trails Chris Christie head to head in this one by eight points, which is an unusually large spread between them; even more unusual is that she also trails Rand Paul (by three) and Paul Ryan (by two) and is tied with Ted Cruz. Typically Christie’s the only Republican who leads her in these hypothetical 2016 match-ups, and even he ends up trailing her sometimes. In Colorado, Quinnipiac found him ahead by three in June and ahead by just one point in August — and now suddenly he’s creeping up on double digits. That’s due in part to the good press he got after his Jersey landslide, but if this was all about Christie, you wouldn’t see Paul and Ryan overtaking Hillary too. Something else is going on.

Here’s what happens when you ask Coloradans whether they think their health care will be better next year because of O-Care or worse.


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Lots of pessimism out there, most notably the -19 among women, a reliably Democratic group that tends to be more supportive of O-Care than men are. An ObamaCare optimist searching desperately for a silver lining could read that same data as proof that a clear majority thinks their health care will be better or, at worst, no different from how it is now, but that’s a poor interpretation for lots of reasons. For starters, part of the “no different” contingent may be under the impression that they’ll be able to keep their plans even if the suckers on the individual market can’t. Not true; America will see cancellations in group coverage soon enough, once the delay in the employer mandate expires. As more people are moved onto the exchanges, the problems consumers on the individual market are experiencing will only become more widespread — rate shock, access shock, and general annoyance at the realization that what Obama sold to the country as a big health-care upgrade for everyone is really just a redistribution scheme to have the healthy and middle-class pay for coverage for the poor and sick. David Frum’s dead right on this:

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...d3_normal.jpeg davidfrum @davidfrum Follow Once you think of Ocare's cost increases for healthy as the middle-class tax increase the law pretended to eschew … (1/2)
7:27 AM - 20 Nov 2013

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...d3_normal.jpeg davidfrum @davidfrum Follow … it's hard to think of them as anything else. (2/2)
7:27 AM - 20 Nov 2013

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...d3_normal.jpeg davidfrum @davidfrum Follow And once you understand that what is visibly happening in the individual market is less visibly altering the group market .. (1/2)
7:33 AM - 20 Nov 2013


https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...d3_normal.jpeg davidfrum @davidfrum Follow … you'll stop taking refuge in the "it's only 5%" excuse. (2/2)
7:33 AM - 20 Nov 2013

Perceptions will change, but not in the direction O-Care fans are hoping for. Speaking of which, here’s where perceptions in Colorado stand on which side in hindsight was to blame for the shutdown. The party that wants to shrink government naturally leads, but the margin is awfully thin — likely the result of some voters concluding that an urgent effort to stop ObamaCare from taking effect wasn’t so pointless after all.

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It’s not just Hillary and Democrats generally who are suffering either. Mark Udall, Colorado’s Democratic senator, now finds himself with only small leads over a variety of Republican contenders. Given all the landmines that still lie in front of O-Care, I wonder how soon the Clintons will start inching away from health-care reform and what form that’ll take. Bill gave us a sneak preview with what he said last week about O needing to honor his “if you like your plan” commitment; Hillary will, for starters, surely end up endorsing a wider variety of plans being offered on the exchanges than just the expensive “comprehensive” ones that Obama keeps mumbling about. (Can’t wait to hear her explain how she’d make up the revenue shortfall from that.) More generous subsidies for the lower middle class to help ease rate shock is also a fait accompli for her platform. Don’t wait too long, Clintonworld.

Via RCP, here’s Krauthammer insisting she’s a paper tiger. I’m unconvinced.

Video at the Page Link:

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/11/2...an-contenders/

CBS poll: Obama approval sinks nine points in a month to 37%

posted at 8:01 am on November 20, 2013 by Ed Morrissey

Consider the lame-duck descent confirmed. A day after the Washington Post/ABC poll showed disapproval for Barack Obama and ObamaCare reaching new highs, the new CBS News poll shows his approval plummeting nine points in a month to 37%. Support for the Affordable Care Act managed to drop even faster:

President Obama’s job approval rating has plunged to the lowest of his presidency, according to a new CBS News poll released Wednesday, and Americans’ approval of the Affordable Care Act has dropped it’s lowest since CBS News started polling on the law.

Thirty-seven percent now approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing as president, down from 46 percent in October – a nine point drop in just a month. Mr. Obama’s disapproval rating is 57 percent — the highest level for this president in CBS News Polls.

A rocky beginning to the opening of the new health insurance exchanges has also taken its toll on how Americans perceive the Affordable Care Act. Now, approval of the law has dropped to 31 percent – the lowest number yet recorded in CBS News Polls, and a drop of 12 points since last month. Sixty-one percent disapprove (a high for this poll), including 46 percent who say they disapprove strongly.

Republicans are nearly unanimous in their disapproval of the law, and now more than two-thirds of independents agree. Almost six in ten Democrats continue to support the law, but their support has dropped 16 points from last month – from 74 percent in October to 58 percent today. Support has dropped 11 points among independents and five points among Republicans.

Obama can’t even get to 40% with women, among whom his approval rating is 39/54. It’s worse among independents, a disastrous 29/63. His overall approval (37/57) is nearly the same as George W. Bush at this point in his presidency (35/57), two months after Hurricane Katrina.

As with the WaPo/ABC poll, the ObamaCare fiasco has taken a toll on voter perceptions of Obama’s personal qualities. In September 2012, respondents considered Obama honest and trustworthy by a 60/35 margin.

Today’s it’s 49/48, and among independents it’s down to 43/53.

It’s not just voters who don’t care for Obama’s performance, either. The Hill reports that his relationship with Capitol Hill Democrats has hit a new nadir, with most of them furious over his incompetence:

President Obama’s relationship with congressional Democrats has worsened to an unprecedented low, Democratic aides say.

They are letting it be known that House and Senate Democrats are increasingly frustrated, bitter and angry with the White House over ObamaCare’s botched rollout, and that the president’s mea culpa in a news conference last week failed to soothe any ill will.

Sources who attended a meeting of House chiefs of staff on Monday say the room was seething with anger over the immense damage being done to the Democratic Party and talk was of scrapping rollout events for the Affordable Care Act.

“Here we are, we’re supposed to be selling this to people, and it’s all screwed up,” one chief of staff ranted. “This either gets fixed or this could be the demise of the Democratic Party.

“It’s probably the worst I’ve ever seen it,” the aide said of the recent mood on Capitol Hill. “It’s bad. It’s really bad.”

Obama likes to brag that he doesn’t have to run for office again. Unfortunately, most of them do, and very soon. They can see the handwriting on the wall, and it’s in Obama’s script.

Here’s the CBS News poll data: Nov13c Morning


Tags: Barack Obama, CBS News, ObamaCare, polls


http://hotair.com/archives/2013/11/2...a-month-to-37/

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