Bloomberg: Pelosi Gains With Public as Democrats Get High Marks for Agenda

[RSchewe]

By Heidi Przybyla

Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Americans are warming to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and they give the Democratic-led Congress high marks for its initial legislative priorities.

A new Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll shows positive views of Pelosi, 66, climbed over the past month and are considerably higher than the marks Americans gave one of her highly publicized predecessors, Republican Newt Gingrich, in the first weeks of his tenure as speaker in 1995.

The poll conducted Jan. 13 to 16 showed even more support for the party's early priorities, including repealing subsidies for oil companies, cutting prescription-drug costs for seniors and raising the minimum wage, which were backed by large majorities of respondents.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aolkIGqp9nIk&refer=home

[Toucano]

1. Good work, Nancy!

I'm thrilled to see you're actually being appreciated.

[generaldemocrat]

2. Hell yes!!!

:toast:

[wtmusic]

3. She'd be crazy to put impeachment back on the table

Why would she pursue anything as divisive as law and order, when she's getting such "high marks"? :eyes:

[knight_of_the_star]

7. We need this support first

First we make the case to the people, then we make the case in the Senate.

[fooj]

8. She will do the right thing.

Keep the faith!:bounce:

[aquart]

11. Thank you for your concern.

[Bleacher Creature]

4. Shocking, I Say!!!!

Americans see the real agenda of the Democratic Party . . . and they realize it's much more relevant to them than some phony debate on marriage, abortion, etc. Crazy stuff!

[mzmolly]

10. HEAR HEAR!

:toast:

[Zorra]

5. This support is well-deserved, our Dems are kickin' ass. nt

[fidgeting wildly]

6. This is great news!

I have too many conservative family members who consistently vote against their own interests. They think none of this affects them personally, and so they let everything ride on abortion and gun issues. I hope they (like the people who responded to this poll) will begin to understand that politics DOES affect their lives, and that the Democrats can make their lives better.

[benEzra]

13. IMHO, it's often weighing one interest against another...

which is why needlessly taking national stands on some wedge issues (e.g., gun bans) is counterproductive.

If you are a gun owner, not wanting half your guns confiscated IS an interest. My wife and I have a small gun collection, which is financially worth less than $2K (probably considerably less), but I wouldn't give up my right to choose on the issue for $500K, any more than I'd sell my right to speak out on political issues for $500K.

That, IMO, is why the '06 election, in which the gun wedge issue was mostly taken off the table, shows a way forward. If you consider the gun issue to be less important than, say, health care, then take the gun issue off the table and make the election about health care instead of guns, for example.

To turn the question around, would you vote for W if you KNEW his winning the election would increase your income? No? I didn't think so. That doesn't mean you would hypothetically be "voting against your interests," merely that economic interests aren't the ONLY interests, and they often aren't anywhere near the most important, for conservatives OR progressives.

[barb162]

9. Keep up the good work, Nancy!!!

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. You mean the world didn't stop turning?

And the sun didn't fall outof the sky, because a liberal woman from San Fransico is the Speaker of the House?