The election might be over, but we still have polls to pore over. One popular topic: Americans’ hopes for an end to gridlock on important issues facing Congress. Issues such as jobs, and how to create more of them.
On the whole, respondents to a recent United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll seemed hopeful that President Obama and Congress would be able to reach an agreement about the problems plaguing the nation. (Although National Journal Polls Editor Steven Shepard notes that “optimism is driven mainly by self-identified Democrats, and respondents express more confidence in Obama and his party than in congressional Republicans, the poll shows.”)
What do people want from their government right now? Mainly, jobs. Eighty-six percent of those surveyed said that it was “very important” for Congress to address jobs, as opposed to 79 percent in the April poll.
Next on the respondents’ priority list: improve public education, reduce the deficit, and fulfill the country’s energy needs. The poll showed that immigration policy was the smallest area of concern for most who participated.
Only 31 percent thought it “very likely” that Congress and the president could agree on jobs legislation — but that’s up from 19 percent in the April survey. Let’s hope that spirit of optimism is contagious and spreads all the way to the legislature.
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