Sea change in poll on which party better able to handle national security
Keep in mind; this is a James Carville poll from Democracy Corps . And it contains some pretty shocking numbers according to the Washington Times:
The Democracy Corps-Third Way survey released Monday finds that by a 10-point margin -- 51 percent to 41 percent -- Americans think the standing of the U.S. dropped during the first 13 months of Mr. Obama's presidency."This is surprising, given the global acclaim and Nobel peace prize that flowed to the new president after he took office," said pollsters for the liberal-leaning organizations.
On the national security front, a massive gap has emerged, with 50 percent of likely voters saying Republicans would likely do a better job than Democrats, a 14-point swing since May. Thirty-three percent favored Democrats.
[...]
The Democrats' gap on national security has widened on several other fronts:
• "Keeping America safe": Democrats now trail by 13 points (34 percent to 47 percent.) The gap was just 5 points in July 2008.
• "Ensuring a strong military": Democrats trail by 31 points (27 percent to 58 percent.)
• "Making America safer from nuclear threats": Democrats trail by 11 points (34 percent to 45 percent,) "despite the president's strong actions and speeches on steps to reduce nuclear dangers," the pollsters said.
[...]
In addition, the detention of terrorist suspects and the Obama proposal to prosecute suspects in civil trials in New York City, which was later abandoned, also have taken a toll on the president's approval ratings."Whereas a majority of the public approves of the job President Obama is doing in most aspects of national security, a 51 to 44 percent majority of likely voters disapproves of his efforts on the prosecution and interrogation of terrorism suspects," the pollsters found.
In short, people feel less safe with Obama and the Democrats in charge. That's the bottom line and we may be seeing a resurgence of "national security moms" as an electoral factor. The president inspires little confidence that he is capable of protecting us adequately and the most sensitive group to that notion are suburban women with kids. They went big for Obama in 2008. It appears they are falling away rapidly in 2010.