A political shot has just been fired by voters across the bow of Capitol Hill Republicans, courtesy Rasmussen Reports, which revealed Thursday morning that a new poll has found that voters “are now more likely to believe Republicans in Congress are the bigger problem for President Trump than Democrats are.”
The survey found that 43 percent of likely voters think Republicans are “a bigger problem for the president, while 36% believe Democrats are the bigger problem. A sizeable 22% are undecided.” That cannot be good news for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell or House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Of course, the survey results break down on a rather partisan scale.
“Republican voters by a 46% to 38% margin see Democrats in Congress as the bigger problem,” Rasmussen said. “Democrats by a 48% to 32% margin and voters not affiliated with either major party by a 42% to 28% margin see Republicans as the bigger obstacle.”
Still, if Donald Trump is still determined to “drain the swamp,” some of the reptiles will be wearing GOP colors, it appears. Republicans battling one another about health care is sending a message to voters.
This follows on the heels of a separate Rasmussen survey that said a whopping 62 percent think most members of Congress “don’t care what their voters think.” By contrast, only 21 percent of voters think most members of Congress care what they think.
Fifty-five percent of those survey respondents think Capitol Hill is trying harder to please the media than the public.
How this all shakes out is not so good for the public, it would appear. It illustrates a growing lack of confidence that people have in their government, no matter who is in charge. The Democrats’ attempt to rebrand themselves earlier this week seems like so much warmed over rhetoric with a slick new package, but the same product inside.
This brings us around to the sticky subject of gun rights versus gun control. There is no indication that either party has shifted position on guns, though when it comes to one of the more important measures to gun owners – who were instrumental once again in shifting control of Congress to the GOP – some Republicans seem to be missing in action.
The proposed Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, H.R. 38, has more than 200 co-sponsors, but there appear to be some significant absences. As of Thursday morning, there were only three Democrat co-sponsors, which says quite a bit about that party’s position on reciprocity and self-defense rights outside of one’s home state.
With what appears to be a civil war in progress within the GOP ranks, gun owners may get the impression once again that Republicans only come to them at election time with promises, but there is no delivery.
If the Rasmussen survey is any indicator, Republicans are running out of chances with voters, especially gun owners.
