Slew Of New Polls-- All Devastating For The Party That Shut Down The Government

Time to say good-bye

CNN's latest polling was all bad news for the Republican Party, but in a general kind of way. The PPP/MoveOn district-by-district polls released this morning, though, are what terrorizes the hostage takers and cowards in the GOP who just cost tax-payers $24 billion with their right-wing temper tantrum. We'll get to those results in a moment.

Just over half the public says that it's bad for the country that the GOP controls the House of Representatives, according to a new national poll conducted after the end of the partial government shutdown.

…According to the survey, 54% say it's a bad thing that the GOP controls the House, up 11 points from last December, soon after the 2012 elections when the Republicans kept control of the chamber. Only 38% say it's a good thing the GOP controls the House, a 13-point dive from the end of last year.

This is the first time since the Republicans won back control of the House in the 2010 midterm elections that a majority say their control of the chamber is bad for the country.

…And the CNN/ORC International survey also indicates that more than six in 10 Americans [63%] say that Speaker of the House John Boehner should be replaced.

The most likely way to replace John Boehner is to elect a Democratic majority in the House next year. And that's what the new MoveOn polls in 25 districts are all about. So adding to the polling earlier in the month that show Republican incumbents like Buck McKeon (R-CA), Fred Upton (R-MI), Ileana Ros Lehtinen (R-FL), Mike Rogers (R-MI), David Reichert (R-WA) and several others very beatable, we now see equally dismal results for Republicans who went along with shutting down the government like Darrell Issa (R-CA), John Mica (R-FL), Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Scott Tipton (R-CO), Ed Royce (R-CA), Dennis Ross (R-FL), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Peter Roskam (R-IL), Justin Amash (R-MI), Leonard Lance (R-NJ), Joe Pitts (R-PA), Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), Mike Turner (R-OH), Steve Stivers (R-OH), Jim Renacci (R-OH), Robert Hurt (R-VA), Tom Petri (R-WI), as well as several others.

Former Rove lackey Tim Griffin, a 2-term Republican backbencher from Little Rock, announced he's retiring to "spend more time with the family." Former Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter is a likely Democratic nominee. With a Democratic wave forming against GOP excess, Griffith apparently knew when to head for the exits faster than some of his careerist colleagues who have worn out their welcomes. Like John Mica in the Orlando-area district just north of Alan Grayson's district. Blue America has endorsed independent-minded progressive Nick Ruiz for the seat. The DCCC is ignoring the race and the district. If you want to help Nick beat Mica, you can do it here. Keep in mind, if the election were held today, Nick would lead Mica 46-43%. After voters are made aware that Mica backed the government shutdown, the race shifts even more in Nick's favor-- 49-41%.

After the polls were released, we reached Nick by phone. Encouraged, he told us that "This latest MoveOn/PPP poll of our district makes it crystal clear to naysayers that it's imperative we seek to change the narrative of our government from that of what's 'impossible,' to a narrative that is more optimistic in terms of what we can achieve, if we simply, decide to. We have to turn the page on the 20th century model of a government that's always one step or two behind the social justice curve, and seems to excel only at warmaking. We can get ahead of the curve, but we need reps. to advocate for that vision. Austerity is choking the middle class world to death. For the middle and working class to continue, we will have to reinvoke that New Deal middle class spirit, and there will have to be investment. John Mica is not prepared to do it. The private sector is not prepared to do it. For that reason and others, voters will not re-elect Rep. Mica, and instead will elect me, because I am prepared to do it." And we agree. Again, please chip in for Nick's race here; the DCCC never will.