The recently concluded midterm elections cost billions of dollars, generated thousands of different headlines and resulted in Republicans winning control of the U.S. Senate.
But it didn’t change much else — especially the public’s attitudes about politics in Washington, D.C., according a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Consider:
- More than three-quarters of Americans say the election won’t substantially change the nation’s direction.
- More say they have less confidence that elected leaders in Washington will start working together to solve problems.
- And Americans are split almost evenly between positive (41%) and negative (39%) reactions to Republicans controlling both the House and Senate next year.
A sampling: “A good thing,” “About time,” “Complete disaster,” “Awful,” “I guess we’ll see,” “Indifferent.”
“While this wave election has changed the composition of Congress and added Republican governors, it has not changed the nation’s psyche or their expectations,” says Democratic pollster Fred Yang of Hart Research, who conducted this survey with the Republican pollsters at Public Opinion Strategies.
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Indeed, about two-thirds of Americans continue to say that the nation is on the wrong track; President Obama’s approval rating remains in the 40s and a majority still thinks the nation’s economic and political systems are stacked against them.
“It is almost like the election never happened,” Yang adds.
Breaking down the numbers:
What election?
- A combined 76% say there will be “just some change” or “not that much change” as a result of the election. By comparison, only 21% say it will result in “a great deal of change” or “quite a bit of change.”
- Similarly, more respondents said they had less confidence (32%) that politicians will start working together, versus those who had more confidence (26%). A plurality (40%) said they election made no difference here.
Obama
- 44% of adults approve of his job — his highest marks since April 2014. (Note: This is among adults; our polls leading up to the election had it among registered voters.)
- His fav/unfav rating is right-side up at 45%-43% — the first time it’s been above water since April.
Immigration
- By a 48%-38% margin, Americans disapprove of Obama taking executive action on immigration.
- But it breaks along partisan lines — 63% of Democrats approve, versus 11% of Republicans and 37% of independents.
- Still, 57% favor a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and that increases to 74% when respondents are told that such a pathway requires paying fines/back taxes, passing a security background check, and taking other steps.
More post-election numbers
What should the next Congress do? 2016 favorability ratings Finally, our poll tested the fav/unfavs of many of the potential 2016ers. Among all respondents: Among Democrats: Among Republicans
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