>>> we turn to presidential politics . tonight according to some of the very best people in the business of measuring the mood of the american electorate, there's reason to believe that the united states is approaching a tumultuous and game changing election year. we've never seen the voting attitude, exactly the way it is now. tonight we're going to take a few minutes here to talk about this because of some new data that was shared with us today. we have the pollster himself, and the rest of our veteran political team with us, our political director, chuck todd is here as is peter hart , meet the press moderator david gregory , and from washington , andrea mitchell . chuck, let's start with the hard numbers today and what they tell us.
>> this poll that we have tonight is a tale of two republicans with their own set of electability problems. let's start with mitt romney , his problem is getting the republican nomination. as you can see, newt gingrich has surged to 40%. the highest number any republican has had in the calendar year of 2011 , since we've started polling this primary. when the race shrinks down to three candidates, gingrich's lead expands. what is rom any's electability problem? it is simply one word, ideology. 70% of republicans call themselves conservative. only 29% believe mitt romney is conservative. mitt romney and barack obama would be a neck and neck race. newt gingrich , different story. 51 for the president, just 40% for newt gingrich . independent voters really are sour on newt gingrich . who could you just not vote for. newt gingrich . half the country says they just could not vote for gingrich. to hit the 50% mark, though, a big deal . newt gingrich 's image is the same as it was in october 1998 , the last time we polled him as speaker of the house . 27 to 46. 27 to 24 now.
>> you've been in this game a long time, peter hart , you and your partner in polling briefed our staff today. i don't think i've ever heard your assessment the way it was today. give us the view of this country from, as they say, 50,000 feet.
>> from up above, it's terrible. direction of the country 70% the wrong direction. are people feeling about this year? one of the worst years. when they look at this congress, they say, this is the worst congress i've seen. how do i feel about the economy, america going-forward? every element the american public comes up negative. there's no sense of optimism, there's no sense of hope.
>> you were saying earlier today, if this is a so-called referendum election, which is a type of election that taps into a certain voter anger, it could be perilous for the current president?
>> absolutely. because if it's an up or down with 29% saying, i think the country's going in the right direction, you just can't make it. the sense of the president and the economy, he can't make it, but if it's a choice election, how do i choose between the two? well, you just heard what chuck said. neither of the republican candidates look all that good to the american public. three flawed candidates.
>> now, are you talking about a potential entry for a third party this year being a possibility?
>> well, as bill mcinterf says, expect the unexpected. one of the unexpecteds is expect a third candidate in the race. that will help president obama .
>> david gregory , there's a very energized right word facet of the republican party out there. what's fuelling it, and what manifestation could we see?
>> the tea party effect. it's driving the conservative base, and that's where newt gingrich does well. these where romney is still coming up short. what peter and chuck is describing is something we don't exactly know yet, in terms of what's happening inside the republican party . they're rejecting the establishment candidate, and going back to a guy who 13 years to the day of the iowa caucuses had his last day as speaker of the house . that's newt gingrich . he can take the fight to obama, he can debate, well, yes, he's erratic, but he's viewed negatively. there's so much emotion, and passion in this campaign right now. i think that's what the driving force is on the right.
>> andrea mitchell in washington , i spoke to a veteran of the social wars in this country of a few decades back, who said, look for the summer of 2012 , if this all -- if this spark becomes a prairie fire , look for the summer of 2012 , when we have two political conventions to look a lot like the summer of '68 perhaps.
>> well, it could happen, because you got so much anger, so much frustration. the numbers that peter sites and that chuck has cited show there is an extraordinary disaffectionate all institutions. there's no respect for anything except perhaps the military here. with that kind of anger building, and you have the occupy folks on one side, the tea party on the other, i think you could start seeing a joining of forces with these two parties. you don't know what to expect and it's all been so unpredictable until now.
>> peter hart , it's safe to say, we haven't seen this country in this shape before, and we certainly haven't seen the electorate look like this before?
>> anger is all around. the thing that most disappoints people in 2011 , and that is the declining middle class , the rich are getting richer.
>> peter, david, andrea mitchell in washington , thank you all. and
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/45661249/
protect ip act spear of destiny rock hill sc kate middleton pregnant national book awards jessica sutta houston astros
No comments:
Post a Comment