President Obama’s 2011 State of the Union, for the most part, struck a powerful chord as he described his economic vision for the country. Although a few sections received mixed reactions, following the speech, voters gave the President impressive assessments on key economic measures and were especially drawn to the President’s emphasis on the three themes emphasized in his speech – innovation, education, and America’s competitiveness in the future.
Dial testing and follow-up discussions with 50 swing voters in Denver, Colorado showed that President Obama’s 2011 State of the Union struck a powerful chord as he described his economic vision for the country. This was a difficult audience for Obama, yet his speech largely won them over. Following the speech, voters gave the President impressive assessments on key economic measures and were especially drawn to the President’s emphasis on three of the themes he emphasized in his speech – innovation, education, and America’s competitiveness in the future. As one of these swing voters put it, “the future belongs to the people who make the what and the how.”
Report on Democracy Corps focus groups conducted with independents and weak partisans in Bala Cynwyd Pennsylvania and Denver Colorado.
Voters in our focus groups respond positively to President Obama’s call for bold action now to overcome the challenges that America faces and bring more jobs to the United States.
Watch as Democrats and independents in our focus groups hit 99 on the zero to one hundred scale when President Obama promises to end the tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.
Real time reactions from voters as President Obama outlines his plan to use some of the recovered bailout money from the largest banks to help smaller, community banks so they can start lending to small businesses again.
Voter reaction to the president’s economic discussion in the State of the Union shows that Democrats have a lot to learn about their economic narrative in the coming year. Voters responded very positively to the president’s turn to jobs as priority number one for the next year, but they responded differently to politicians talking about progress and success. With the economy growing at its fastest pace in six years and wages growing at their slowest in the past quarter-century, there is a growing gap that makes the communication about the economy harder, not easier.
Real time reactions from 50 voters as President Obama speaks about Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in his State of the Union address.
In his first State of the Union address tonight, Barack Obama demonstrated a clear understanding of the problems facing the country and outlined a path forward that swing voters want to see their members of Congress follow. Especially in his understanding of the economic challenges we face, his aggressive stance on financial reform and bringing accountability to Wall Street, and his commitment to fighting for solutions to the country’s problems, the president dispelled many doubts that had clouded attitudes toward him and rallied swing voters to his agenda for change. The challenge remains whether he can convince a visibly recalcitrant and divided Congress to act.
The self-identifying conservative Republicans who make up the base of the Republican Party stand a world apart from the rest of America, according to focus groups conducted by Democracy Corps. These base Republican voters dislike Barack Obama to be sure – which is not very surprising as base Democrats had few positive things to say about George Bush – but these voters identify themselves as part of a ‘mocked’ minority with a set of shared beliefs and knowledge, and commitment to oppose Obama that sets them apart from the majority in the country.
Click here to see Democracy Corps Senior Adviser Karl Agne discussing the report on MSNBC Morning Meeting on October 19.
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