Turns out Republicans are nearly as concerned with the “dark money” fueling all those PAC and Super PAC campaign ads as Democrats are, at least according to a new poll from the Pew Research Center.
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And elected officials are held in such low regard that 55 percent of the public says ordinary Americans would do a better job of solving national problems.
The Pew poll shows that candidates like Trump who have fanned the flames of anger at government have sound political rationales for doing so.
Trump then nabs 48 percent favorability from Republicans and Republican-leaners “not angry” at government, contrasted with a 48 percent unfavorability rating.
Predictably, more Republicans are angry with the government than Democrats (32 percent and 12 percent, respectively), but Republicans have had a historically low level of trust in the government during Barack Obama’s presidency. About half the respondents in each party said the federal government did a good job on roads and on ensuring access to high-quality education. Conversely, fully three-quarters of conservative Republicans say that churches and religious organizations have a positive impact on the country, while just 41 percent of liberal Democrats agree.
The American public is generally as distrustful and dissatisfied with the federal government as ever. Democrats are solidly in support of the government ensuring access to health care and helping people emerge from poverty.
The share saying they would like a child to pursue a career in government is down 8 points since 2010, but careers in government continue to be seen as more appealing than careers in politics: Just 33% say they would like to see a child enter into politics as a career.
“There is bipartisan agreement that the federal government should play a major role in dealing with terrorism, natural disasters, food and medicine safety, and roads and infrastructure”, Pew Research Center writes. However, we overwhelmingly (80 percent) think the federal government doesn’t run programs well and 59 percent say government is very in need of reform. Most say they’d rather have a smaller government that provides fewer services. Shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, 60 percent of Americans said they trusted the government, noted Voice of America. Just under 70 percent of white Christians are self-identified Republicans or lean Republican, compared to just 31 percent who side with Democrats.
Americans who say they trust the federal government to do what is right all or most of the time: 19%. A total of 35,071 Americans were interviewed.
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The biggest exception was managing the immigration system. A lot of them don’t care about governing. But when you ask Americans that question now, it sounds a little different. This is true even though Democratic presidents inherited weaker economies from their Republican predecessors.
