The giant Democratic food fight between the liberal establishment and The Squad -- or "AOC plus three," as the president nicknamed them -- was a battle among unpopular politicians. A new national survey from Emerson measured the favorability ratings of all five women engaged in that (currently paused) brawl, and found public perceptions of each of them deep underwater. Here are the fresh numbers for the Speaker of the House, followed by the four lightning rod Congressional freshmen:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a 28% favorable opinion and a 46% unfavorable opinion. The House “squad,” consisting of Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Illan Omar and Ayanna Pressley share this image problem. Ocasio-Cortez is at 30% favorable and 47% unfavorable, Tlaib is at 26% favorable and 42% unfavorable, Omar is at 25% favorable and 46% unfavorable, and Pressley is at 24% favorable and 35% unfavorable.
So Pelosi pulls a net (-18), AOC is at (-17), and Omar is at (-21). The more junior Squadsters are less known, but remain upside-down by double digits. Interestingly, Ocasio-Cortez registers the highest favorable rating at just 30 percent, with all of the other named Democrats mired in the 20's. Among only Democratic voters, Pelosi's favorability is just about on par with the Squad's, though AOC (+37) beats the Speaker (+33) head-to-head on this measure:
Among Democrats, Pelosi is at 51% favorable/18% unfavorable, Ocasio-Cortez is at 54% favorable/17% unfavorable, Omar is at 46% favorable/20% unfavorable, Tlaib is at 48% favorable/17% unfavorable and Pressley is at 44% favorable/14% unfavorable.
Watch your back, Nancy; you don't have a popularity advantage over the young ladies with whom you've been locking horns. In fact, it seems as though your party's voters slightly prefer their ringleader over you. As for President Trump, his job approval rating sits nearly perfectly even (45/46) in this Emerson poll -- which also tested (still meaningless) hypothetical head-to-heads:
Emerson shows very competitive 2020 hypothetical match-ups (although head-to-head numbers are still statistically useless)... pic.twitter.com/IAzwcSEamY
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 30, 2019
And then there's this:
"Among Democratic primary voters, impeachment is the most important issue at 19%, followed by healthcare at 16%, and social issues and the economy at 13%..." https://t.co/064oAWfNFa
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 30, 2019
Democratic primary voters' top issue is...impeachment, which explains this ridiculous song and dance routine, as I explained yesterday. Among Republicans, immigration was the top concern, followed by the economy. As you can see in the graph embedded in the tweet above, Joe Biden entered this week's debates as the clear national frontrunner among the Democratic field, topping Bernie Sanders by double-digits, roughly doubling Warren's share, and tripling Harris' support. This demonstrates that in spite of some jockeying within the early horserace, Biden has been strong and resilient. Finally, because we opened this post with an analysis of The Squad's standing among voters, I'll leave you with Ilhan Omar -- who routinely frames legitimate criticism of her as "incitement" -- sharing a celebration of actual documented violence against a Republican Senator:
So Congresswoman Omar is now retweeting those cheering on assaults against other members of Congress. Remember that simply citing her words is incitement, but this is apparently just fine?
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) July 29, 2019
Any firefighters on the scene? pic.twitter.com/A9jqAIyxZS
Between this profound hypocrisy, her policy radicalism, and her anti-Semitism, Omar is really putting in the effort to earn that 25 percent favorable rating.