Public Opinion Snapshot: A Mandate for Big Change

January 26, 2009

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Poll after poll shows that the public has very positive feelings toward President Barack Obama and his plans for the country. And that includes the major new programs that he is proposing to bring change to a country that badly needs it. A stunning 71 percent of respondents in the most recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, for example, said that Obama has a mandate to “work for major new economic and social programs” rather than for small policy changes.

The public definitely sees Obama’s proposed stimulus program fitting into that mandate, despite the high price tag. A description of the program that specifically mentions a cost figure of $800 billion still garners 70-27 support from the public.

The public is clearly ready for large-scale action. Yet conservatives are already raising objections to President Obama’s proposals, saying that they cost too much money and aren’t really needed. These complaints are not only ill founded; they clash directly with the public’s view of Obama’s mandate. Such obstruction could wind up making conservatives even more unpopular then they already are.

Read more public opinion analysis from Ruy Teixeira.

More on CAP’s stimulus plan:

Report: How to Spend $350 Billion in a First Year of Stimulus and Recovery

Infographic: Four Reasons We Can’t Afford Not to Have One

Video: Designing a Stimulus that Will Get the Economy Moving Fast