The Public vs. the 'D.C.' Elite have similar priorities

Bruce Drake

Contributing Editor, Politics Daily

Much is made between the disconnect between the "inside the Beltway" crowd and the general public, but now a poll conducted for the Politico has put some numbers to perceptions of issues and people that illustrate the divide is not as big as some people might think.

On the big question: while Americans in general believe the country is on the wrong track by a 61 percent to 27 percent margin, with 12 percent undecided, 49 percent of what Politico and its pollster, Penn Schoen Berland, define as "DC Elites" finds that the elite thinks the country is headed in the right direction by 49 percent to 45 percent, with 6 percent undecided. The poll was conducted July 9-14.

The numbers are similar when it comes to whether the public versus the elite believes the economy is on the right track.

Washington BeltwayPolitico says "to qualify as a Washington elite for the poll, respondents must live within the D.C. metro area, earn more than $75,000 per year, have at least a college degree and be involved in the political process or work on key political issues or policy decisions."

One of the interesting differences between the public and the elites, since Washington is the home of so much punditry that determines how trends are portrayed in the media, are the perceptions of the Tea Party movement. It is not that the general public has a deeply rooted familiarity with the movement -- 31 percent say they don't really know enough about it -- but while 26 percent of the public believes that the movement is a fad that will go away, 68 percent of the D.C. elite subscribes to that view.

Twenty-four percent of Americans say the Tea Party movement will become a viable third party in the nation's politics while only 11 percent of the D.C. elite believe that.
The general population's preference in the midterm elections is split 32 percent for the Democrats to 31 percent for the Republicans, with 12 percent preferring an independent or another choice, 7 percent saying they will not vote and 19 percent undecided. The elite favors the Democratic candidate by 53 percent to 26 percent.

When it comes to the key players on the political scene, Americans are almost evenly divided on whether they see President Obama favorably or not while D.C. elite regards him favorably by a 66 percent to 34 percent margin. Forty-two percent of the public say they would vote for a GOP presidential candidate in 2012 compared to 37 percent who would support Obama, with 18 percent undecided, while the elite supports Obama by 56 percent to 28 percent with 14 percent undecided. But when specific Republican candidates are named, Obama wins all the match-ups among the public.

Here's how things divide among other pols. In all cases, the balance are undecided after you add up the pro and con numbers and, predictably, the undecideds are lower among the elite since, for many, it is presumably their business to track the political news.

- Sarah Palin: The public sees her unfavorably 53 percent to 39 percent, and the elite see her unfavorably by 82 percent to 16 percent.

- George W. Bush: The public sees him unfavorably by 54 percent to 38 percent while the elite sees him unfavorably by 74 percent to 24 percent.

- John McCain: The public sees him unfavorably by 48 percent to 43 percent, while the elite see him unfavorably by 60 percent to 39 percent.

- Mike Huckabee: The public sees him favorably by 36 percent to 39 percent, while the elite see him unfavorably by 63 percent to 26 percent.

- Mitt Romney: The public sees him unfavorably by 35 percent to 30 percent, and the elite does so by 60 percent to 32 percent.

- Nancy Pelosi: The public sees her unfavorably by 52 percent to 23 percent, and the elite sees her unfavorably by 52 percent to 45 percent.

- John Boehner: Among the players polled who are least known nationally, the public sees him unfavorably by 21 percent to 16 percent and the elite sees him unfavorably by 55 percent to 17 percent.

- Harry Reid: The public sees him unfavorably by 34 percent to 15 percent, and the elite does too, by 58 percent to 38 percent.

- Mitch McConnell: The public sees him unfavorably by 23 percent to 13 percent, and the elite seems him unfavorably by 53 percent to 21 percent.

When it comes to issues, the poll finds generally that the public and the elite share roughly the same priorities of which they regard as most important, although the specific numbers may differ.

This is an interesting article and suggest the Washington DC insiders and the American people hold similar views. Did Obama oversell 'hope and change?" Perhaps he did, but he never said fixing the country would be a Rose Garden. it was clear long ago that it was going to take more than two years to overcome the eight years of the laissez faire Bush Administration. 
 
source: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/07/19/the-public-vs-the-d-c-elite-how-their-views-match-up-or-do/

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