DC Journalists Love GOP Obstructionists, But Americans Don't

There appears to be a pretty big gap
between what DC journalists think Americans think, and what Americans
actually think. No better example of this can be found than the
"winners" and "losers" that DC media are proclaiming in the wake of the
passage of the stimulus bill, and what DailyKos/Research 2000 polling on the subject indicates.

DC opinion: It's good for the Republicans!

• MSNBC's First Read
  lists among its winners "the Republican Party (which demonstrated unity
  after its big losses in November), and No.2 House Republican Eric
  Cantor (who raised his profile during the debate)." Reid gets a win,
  Pelosi gets a loss.
• Chris Cillizza
  also declares Eric Cantor a victor for maintaining party discipline
  (although he tags him a loser too for the AFSME ad). Reid gets a "win"
  here too, and House Democrats are deemed losers, because "it appeared
  as though this was a Senate-run production."
• Fox News
  unsurprisingly says "Republican lawmakers may turn out to be winners.
  Most of them voted against the package, and in their largely unified
  opposition, they found an issue to galvanize the party after two
  consecutive dispiriting electoral defeats." Reid and Pelosi don't
  exist.
• Liz Sidoti
  also says the Republicans win: "Adrift after back-to-back electoral
  losses, they found their voice against a Democratic speaker and an
  expanded majority. They held to the GOP's cornerstone of fiscal
  conservatism as they led the effort to define the package as too costly
  and too quick." Likewise, Jon Boehner: "He strengthened his hold on
  his job, keeping his rank-and-file united against the House version."
  Again, Reid gets a win. She gives Pelosi and Mitch McConnell losses.

The Rest of America: "Thanks For the Help"

According
to Daily Kos polling, however, the change in public opinion from a poll
taken from Feb. 2-5 to the latest one taken from Feb. 9-12 indicates
that Pelosi, Reid and the Democratic Party have actually gone up in public approval -- all had a net change of +2 points, while the Congressional Dems scored a +3. Conversely, Republicans
went down -- the Republican Party had a net change of -2, while
McConnell, Boehner and Congressional Republicans all had a loss of -3.

And
if you go back to the beginning of the year and track how the public is
viewing the political situation in Washington DC, the changes are even
more dramatic:

Pelosi
and the Democratic Party are the big winners, scoring a +5.
Congressional Dems score a +3, and Reid has actually lost two points.

But
contrary to beltway opinion, the Republicans are getting hammered.
While the Republican Party has only had a net change of -2, those
directly involved in the stimulus battle are taking huge hits:
McConnell and Boehner at -11, and the Congressional Republicans who are
getting such applause from the beltway denizens score a -10.

As Markos notes:

The
supposedly hated "San Francisco Liberal" Nancy Pelosi not only has the
only net-positive favorability rating of the bunch, but she has a net
favorability advantage of 40 points over her hapless and clueless
Republican counterpart. The 18-point gap in the net favorability
ratings in the Senate leadership is less dramatic, but still
significant. Especially since Democrats are stuck with the ineffective
Harry Reid as their leader.

The "Reid wins, Pelosi loses" narrative only seems to stick with people who believe what Joe Lieberman thinks matters.

And
what about those cherished "independents" that Davids Brooks and Broder
always claim to speak for? Congressional Republicans have only a 15%
favorability rating, with a 70% disapproval rating. (You can find the
crosstabs here.)
I eagerly await columns from both reflecting this irrefutable consensus
that by anyone's measure falls well outside the margin of error.

DC
lives in an economic bubble and remains largely insulated from the
troubles hitting the rest of the country. No matter who is in power,
no matter who is on the receiving end of taxpayer largesse, the money
finds its way there. Fairfax and Loudoun Counties in VA and Howard
County MD (where lobbyists and contractor beneficiaries of the
defense/homeland security boon of the past 8 years live) are the top three wealthiest counties in the country, and seven more DC suburbs chart in the top 20.

The
people who live in DC, who pretend to speak for the rest of the
country, have no direct experience with what is happening there -- and
their attempts to handicap DC politics have more to do with the inside
baseball games that seek to protect their own interests above all
else. The fact that three and a half million Americans will have jobs
as a result of the passage of this bill, or that people who are
unemployed or living on food stamps will continue to be able to eat,
doesn't seem to graze their analyses.

The American public looked
at DC, they saw the Democrats trying to do something, and they liked
what they saw. People who are deeply worried about staying employed
and taking care of their families do not seem to have the universal
high regard for House Republicans who stood together to oppose helping
them out that the DC establishment do.