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Republican Legislature - State's Third Most Important Problem

by: Kathy Sullivan 2

Tue May 03, 2011 at 08:26:17 AM EDT
(The "newly elected Republican legislature" is identified as the most important problem facing the state by more people than those who say "high taxes!" - promoted by William Tucker)

One item tucked away in the UNH poll results that came out yesterday was that the third largest group of those polled viewed the NH Republican legislature as the state's most important problem.

As the economy recovers, New Hampshire residents remained concerned about the state's economy and unemployment, but
at a lower level than in recent months. A lack of jobs and a weak economy is still seen as the most important problem
(31%), but concerns about the state budget have increased to 23% from 18% in February. A significant change is that 7%
say that the newly elected Republican legislature is the most important problem facing the state. Other concerns are high
taxes (5%), education funding (4%), and the quality of education (4%).
Kathy Sullivan 2 :: Republican Legislature - State's Third Most Important Problem
If I am reading this poll correctly, the identification of the Republican legislature as a big problem was not one of the problems given as a possibility by UNH, but was self generated by those who had picked "other" when asked about the state's problems. That is remarkable.

It also is remarkable that the Republican legislature out ranked taxes, education funding and the quality of education as a problem.

Over the past few months, we all have been wondering if non-activists were picking up on the circus antics of O'Brien, Bettencourt, and the rest. The answer is, yes, people are noticing. The question going forward for the rest of the sessionh is, will Peter Bragdon and the state senate get the message and put a stop to the craziness bubbling up from the House?  My bet - only a lilttle. Courage has been in short supply among Republican legislators this year.  
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Republican Legislature - State's Third Most Important Problem | 12 comments
It's working! (4.00 / 4)
This is wonderful! I believe every action we take is important. Yesterday I passed out 50 flyers, in Spanish and English, at the May Day Rally in Nashua, to let people know about anti-immigrant extremists in the legislature. People were very interested to receive this information. Each of us can do small things like this. Think of those 50 people, telling their friends and families. We cannot relent. It's working!
The Brilliant 7 percent (4.00 / 6)
Give these people a hand!
A Disgrace (4.00 / 6)

While O'Brien and crew are certainly a disgrace, I am actually more disturbed by the so-called adults in the Republican party sitting back and letting this circus of clowns continue to embarass New Hampshire.


"Only in the dictionary will you find success before work"
Adults (4.00 / 4)
I didn't think there were any adults in the Republic Party anymore.  Not one of their presidential candidates would pass that test IMHO, and since Jan. it appears that Boss O'Brien runs his ship with an iron fist.
[ Parent ]
Could the 7% be higher? (0.00 / 0)
Question, could the 7% actually be higher?  Just a thought I had because maybe they did not start writing down that people were upset with the Republican controlled legislature until a trend was noticed and then they started to keep track.  Or, are all other answers written down?

Anyone know?

7% is only 7 people out of 100 (0.00 / 0)
If you figure Dems make up 35-40% of a decent sample, it's not surprising that 7 Dems out of 35-40 understand what the legislature is up to. That's around 20% of Dems. It would be pretty disheartening if 7 people out of 100 or 7 Dems out of 40 did NOT identify the Republican Legislature as a problem.  

"No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." Albert Einstein
Disagree with the point you're making here. (0.00 / 0)
Yes, there are Democrats in the poll, and you'd expect a few to say Republicans in the leg are the big problem.  But there are Republicans in the poll too, and you'd expect them to say taxes are the big problem.  The poll shows more of the former than the latter.

Also, while I don't know how many people were sampled here, 100 would be too small for a good poll.

--
Freedom is not a fiscal issue. Hope 2012.

[ Parent ]
100 is not the sample size, it's the basis for percentage (0.00 / 0)
You have no way of knowing whether the 7% are all Dems, Undeclared's or Republicans.  I'm saying that 7 out of 100 just isn't much, no matter what their affiliation is. I doubt they are Republicans.

"No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." Albert Einstein
[ Parent ]
I didn't say it was the actual sample size. (0.00 / 0)
My point is that it isn't just seven individuals because it isn't just 7 people.  Presumably, the fact that we're reading about it means it was a statistically significant portion of the poll respondents, and keep in mind this was not offered as a response; it was invented by respondents.  And it was given as an answer by more people than answered that taxes are our biggest problem.  That's a significant point.

--
Freedom is not a fiscal issue. Hope 2012.
[ Parent ]
But.... (4.00 / 7)
The overwhelming majority of the people in the state don't follow the legislative news on a regular basis. I would hazard a guess that of the Demcorats who do follow the news on a regular basis, they are more likely to pick education funding, health care, or some other issue, not the Republican legislature. It is really quite remarkable that (a) people are noticing (b) noticing enough to feel it is a problem, and (c) noticing enough to feel it is a big enough problem to identify it as the biggest probelm in the state - without being prompted by the pollster.

There rarely are enough consistent "other" votes to make one of the "others" rank third behind other specific issues.

In my opinion!




"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

[ Parent ]
Republicans in the legislature vs. problems with substantive issues. (4.00 / 1)
Saying that Bill O'Brien's Facepalm Factory is our state's biggest problem, rather than a substantive issue, is like saying a person pouring gas on a fire is the biggest problem, rather than the fire itself.

It's a reasonable way to evaluate the situation.

--
Freedom is not a fiscal issue. Hope 2012.

[ Parent ]
204 Democrats - 93 undeclared - 189 Republicans (0.00 / 0)
Not the numbers you want for a strong poll, but interesting.

13% of Dems and 4% of undeclared indicated the GOP legislature was the problem. That one eighth of the Democratic respondents came up with that on their own is impressive. 24% of Boston Globe readers said GOP was the biggest problem, 14% of NHPR listeners and even 5% of Union Leader readers agreed.

Sadly young respondents were least likely to blame the GOP legislature and over 65 the most likely (10%). And it's worse because Andy Smith's polls go to land-line phones and end up with a disproportionate number of older respondents, 190 50-64 years old vs 59 18-34 years old. If an accurate cross-section were polled, the percentage blaming the GOP legislature would probably be smaller.

Other correlates with blaming the GOP were higher education, higher income and lower churchiness.

[ Parent ]
Republican Legislature - State's Third Most Important Problem | 12 comments

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