Election 2010: Independent Voters Sour on Obama, Pro-Abortion Democrats
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 16, 2010
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A weekend poll shows independent voters are souring on President Barack Obama and his pro-abortion Democratic colleagues who control the House and Senate. A new Associated Press-GfK poll has good news for pro-life advocates hoping to retake Congress or lessen the pro-abortion advantage.
In 2008, 52 percent of independents backed Obama over his presidential rival John McCain, but that has changed now that they have endured two years of his aggressive pro-abortion agenda.
Only 32 percent of those who do not declare themselves either Republicans or Democrats now say they support Obama and want Democrats to keep control of Congress. And 67 percent say they believe the country is headed in the wrong direction — never a good sign for those in power.
With 40 percent of voters calling themselves independents, that 32 percent figure is especially problematic for Obama and his colleagues. It portends a poor election where pro-life advocates are expected to do well with strong support from a coalition of independents and Republicans.
The Associated Press poll says Obama’s standing now, compared with 2008, is weakened with young whites, unmarried women, people who live in the West, people earning under $50,000 a year, college graduates and urban whites — the very coalition of voters that brought him to power two years ago.
Even minorities — 80 percent of whom voted for Obama — have fallen off as now two-thirds want pro-abortion Democrats to control Congress.
Last week, a new analysis from the Gallup polling organization provided more good news for pro-life advocates heading into the 2010 elections. Its review of presidential approval ratings just before midterm congressional elections found presidents like Barack Obama with lower ratings see their party lose seats.
If that is any indication of the potential November results this year, the pro-life movement can expect to see a slew of pro-abortion members of the House and Senate lose their seats.
"Presidents who retain majority job approval from Americans at the time of midterm elections are much less likely to see their party suffer heavy seat losses than are those with sub-50% approval ratings," Gallup finds in its analysis today. "Since 1946, when presidents are above 50% approval, their party loses an average of 14 seats in the U.S. House in the midterm elections, compared with an average loss of 36 seats when presidents are below that mark."
"The clear implication is that the Democrats are vulnerable to losing a significant number of House seats this fall with Barack Obama’s approval rating averaging 45% during the last two full weeks of Gallup Daily tracking," it continued.
Bill Clinton in 1994 and George W. Bush in 2006 both saw approval under the 50 percent mark cause their parties to lose control of the House of Representatives.
Republicans would need to gain 40 House seats to replace pro-abortion House speaker Nancy Pelosi, who ushered in health care funding abortions and prevented votes on pro-life amendments stopping various taxpayer funding of abortions.
The president’s party nearly always loses seats in midterm elections, regardless of how well the president is rated by the public, Gallup notes.
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