Half of the country believes the GOP will have more influence over the country in the next year, according to a new poll.
Asked who will wield greater influence over the direction of the United States, 50% said Republicans, while only 42% of the public said President Obama, according to a CNN/ORC poll released Thursday. It was conducted with almost 850 Americans this week between Nov. 18 and 20.
At this time last year, more than six in 10 Americans said Obama would have more influence in the upcoming year.
Republican influence over the country has been marred with obstruction in recent weeks. On Monday, Senate Republicans blocked President Obama’s judicial pick to join the D.C. Circuit Court, marking the third time GOPers have filibustered nominees to the powerful court. But rules in the Senate were forever changed this week as Democrats on Thursday approved a measure to block the minority’s power to filibuster certain presidential nominees.
President Obama backed the so-called “nuclear option,” signaling an opportunity for Democrats to staff the administration and federal judicial benches that have been left vacant for months. The president’s nominees have been subject to filibusters more times than former presidents, including George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan.
The president’s credibility has taken a hit amid his administration’s mishandling of the health care law rollout. Last week, a Quinnipiac University poll showed Obama with an approval rating in line with what former President George W. Bush saw following Hurricane Katrina, when Americans blamed him for his slow response with federal aid.
Polls have shown Obama’s approval rating reaching new lows in the past several weeks. Forty-one percent of Americans support the president, the CNN/ORC poll found, the lowest level in CNN’s polling.
“All [recent polls] have said the president has had all-time lows,” host Joe Scarborough said Friday on Morning Joe. “This is impacting the polls of Democrats all across America.”
Michele Richinick