GOP: generic optimism over poll

Republicans must be giddy over the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Thanks to the BP oil spill in the gulf, the administration’s problems getting a public handle on the disaster and the stubborn economy, President Obama’s job approval rating dropped from 50 percent last month to 45 percent now. His disapproval rating is now 48 percent. To make matters worse, 60 percent of those polled say the nation is on the wrong track.
Republicans surely are smiling over who poll respondents said they wanted ruling Congress after the November midterms. For the second survey in a row the GOP came out on top. They were favored 45 to 43 over Democrats. But that's such a cheap thrill. Of course Democrats are getting a polling beat-down on that generic question. This result says more about what the Democrats ARE doing than it does about what the Republicans WOULD do.
I’ve written plenty about the dearth of ideas from the GOP. And I’ve complained about its reliance on gimmicks. YouCut -- where we the people get to vote on which wasteful programs to eliminate -- is the latest example from House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.). Meanwhile, the one fella in the bunch who’s had the guts to make tough choices, commit them to paper and try to sell them -- Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) and the Road Map for America’s Future -- is virtually ignored.
I can understand why the Republican leadership won’t touch it. Many of the ideas are draconian and would be wildly unpopular. But they are real ideas that the American people could compare and contrast with the governing ideas of the Democrats. If that were to happen, it’s guaranteed that the preference for a GOP-controlled Congress would diminish greatly.

By Jonathan Capehart  |  June 24, 2010; 4:03 PM ET