A number that should scare Hillary Clinton
An astonishing 65 percent of respondents say they want the next president to pursue different policies than Obama's
The new USA Today/Pew Research poll out this morning is terrible news for Democrats and shows a possible wave forming that Republican candidates may be able to ride to majorities in both houses of Congress on Election Day.
The GOP's four-point lead in the generic ballot among registered voters, 47 percent to 43 percent, "shows the strongest tilt to Republican candidates at this point in a midterm year in at least two decades, including before partisan 'waves' in 1994 and 2010 that swept the GOP into power," USA Today reports.
In addition, by a margin of more than two to one, Americans say they are dissatisfied with the direction of the country.
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But dig deeper into the polling results and you'll find a number Democrats should be even more worried about.
An astonishing 65 percent of respondents say they want the next president to pursue different policies than the ones pushed by President Obama.
That's bad news for Hillary Clinton or any Democrat looking to run for president in 2016. It also underlines why it's so rare that one party holds the White House for three consecutive terms.
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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political websites. He also runs Wonk Wire and the Political Dictionary. Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and COO of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. senator and governor. Goddard is also co-author of You Won — Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including The Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Christian Science Monitor. Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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