Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid may be in trouble.
NBC/WSJ/Marist has published a new poll, conducted July 28-31, that shows a plurality of registered voters want a Republican majority in both the House and Senate.
Respondents were first asked if they thought Congress had been very productive, somewhat productive, somewhat unproductive or very unproductive. 50 percent of registered voters said they thought Congress had been very unproductive, with only 3 percent saying Congress had been very productive.
Even though the 50 percent who think Congress was very unproductive are in part talking about the Republican House, they don’t want the majority to change.
They were asked if they would like to see the majority in the House stay Republican, or become Democrat. 43 percent of registered voters wanted Republicans in the majority and 41 percent wanted Democrats in the majority, with 16 percent unsure.
The Senate showed similar results. Respondents were asked if they want the Senate to stay Democrat, or become majority Republican. As with the House, 43 percent of registered voters wanted Republicans in the majority and 41 percent wanted Democrats in the majority, with 15 percent unsure. (RELATED: NRSC Chairman Says Republicans Could Flip Up To 14 Senate Seats)
Interestingly enough, 26 percent of registered voters in the poll identified as soft Democrats and 19 percent identified as strong Democrats. That 19 percent beats the 18 percent who identified as strong Republicans. Soft Republicans made up 24 percent.
An NPR poll in mid-June showed that President Barack Obama’s approval ratings are lower than the national average in key battleground states for the Senate. 38 percent of likely voters in 12 states with competitive Senate races approve of Obama, which is four points lower than the national average. These voters also strongly disapprove of how Democrats are running the Senate with 45 percent strongly disapproving and 18 percent somewhat disapproving.
This could spell impending trouble for Democrats. Registered voters in the NBC poll want to see a Republican House and Senate, and a plurality polled identify as Democrat. (RELATED: Ted Cruz Predicts 2016 Will Bring ‘The Return Of Freedom To This Country’)
Recently, Democrats in the House and Senate have been focusing fundraising and campaigning efforts on the platform of impeachment. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has so far raised $2.1 million on that pitch alone, according to the Washington Post. (RELATED: NBC Host To Top Democrat: ‘Frankly, Only People Talking About Impeachment This Week Are Democrats’)
This may be backfiring, however, as leading Republicans have not brought up impeaching the president. (RELATED: Boehner Rules Out Obama Impeachment: ‘A Scam Started By Democrats’)
President Obama and Democrats are also struggling on immigration. With the crisis at the southern border and Obama’s lack of action and finger-pointing, Americans are becoming increasingly wary of immigration. (RELATED: New Polls: Obama Losing, GOP Gaining, On Immigration)
NBC polled 760 adults with a margin of error of plus-minus 3.6 percentage points. Of the 760 polled, 69 percent of registered voters were white; 12 percent were African American or black; 12 percent were Latino or Hispanic; and 7 were other. 31 percent of the registered voters were ages 60 or older. 28 percent were 45 to 59; 23 percent were 30 to 44; and 18 percent were 18 to 29.
