Well, the poll results are out. Rather than waiting for the usual suspects to tell me how all these polls are fraudulent and badly worded, let’s just assume they are somewhat accurate.
According to an April 1-2 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, a slim majority of Americans believe Schiavo’s feeding tube should have been removed — aligning them with Schiavo’s husband Michael who said this would have been Terri’s wish. About 4 in 10 Americans said it should not have been removed — aligning them with Schiavo’s parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, who sought every legal avenue to restore Terri’s feeding tube. These poll results, obtained after Schiavo’s death on March 31, reflect an increase in opposition to the removal of the tube compared to mid-March data.
The latest results are the same, regardless of whether or not the question describes Schiavo as being in a “persistent vegetative state.” In a split sample experiment, Gallup found 53% saying the feeding tube should have been removed in response to a question stating that she has been in a persistent vegetative state since 1990. Gallup found 52% saying the tube should have been removed in response to a question that did not describe her medical condition.
The current poll shows that Congress’ decision to legally intervene and give the Schindler’s the ability to take their case against Michael Schiavo to a federal court is widely unpopular (as has been reflected in a number of other polls conducted in recent weeks). Only 20% of Americans approve of Congress’ involvement, while three-quarters (76%) disapprove.
Clearly, the results are skewed because of how the questions were written. Not.
Not unexpectedly, strong majorities of Democrats and those who favored the removal of Schiavo’s feeding tube disapprove of Congress’ action in this case. More surprisingly, so do majorities of Republicans and those who wanted to see her feeding tube reinserted. Specifically, 86% of Democrats and 87% of those who think Schiavo’s feeding tube should have been removed say they disapprove of Congress’ decision. The decision is also disapproved by 65% of Republicans and 59% of those who preferred that the feeding tube be reinserted.
Clearly, the Republicans, with bible in hand, have become the big government we claim to despise:
The Republican Party is more likely than is the Democratic Party to be seen as using its political power to moralize to Americans about private matters. More than half of Americans say the Republican Party is “trying to use the federal government to interfere with the private lives of most Americans.” Forty percent say the same of the Democratic Party.
Of course- the wording could all be suspect. None of this is true. There will be no backlash. We support a culture of life! Irving Janis weeps. And, Mr. DeLay, there is no support for you tinkering with the judiciary:
When crafting the Schiavo bill, Congress initially considered legislation that would give all advocates of “incapacitated persons” access to the federal courts. According to The New York Times, the final bill — which limited this legal remedy to Schiavo’s case — was passed with the understanding that Congress would revisit the issue of broader legislation in the future.
Only 37% of Americans desire substantial changes to the way state and federal courts handle future cases similar to Schiavo’s. The majority (60%) says this requires either minor changes or no changes.
Americans perceive that a significant proportion of judges allow their political views to “inappropriately influence their decisions on cases”: 35% say all or most judges do this, 33% say about half do this, and 29% say only a few or no judges do this.
Still, Gallup finds no great public demand for legislative changes in this area. Less than half of the public (47%) says that “changes to how the federal courts handle moral issues” ought to be a very or extremely important priority for the president and Congress.
The lesson? Start governing, stop preaching.
reliapundit
you wrote:
“Clearly, the Republicans, with bible in hand, have become the big government we claim to despise:”
and: “Clearly, the Republicans, with bible in hand, have become the big government we claim to despise:”
this is ABSURD. the schiavo bill passed the senate UNANIMOPUSLY and the house by 75%.
maybe some polls show the public didn’t like that congress acted, but it was the WHOLE congress, not just the GOP.
harkin, nader, hentoff, jesse – these are NOT right-wing theocratic red-state nabobs.
so stop trying to make this a partisan issue.
YOU ALSO WROTE:
“there is no support for you tinkering with the judiciary:”
WRONG AGAIN.
there is an excuse; it’s called the Constitution = which explicitly gives jurisdiction over the courts to Congress.
Kimmitt
Thomas (search for Schiavo) gives 19 Cosponsors on the Senate bill; 1 Dem and 18 Republicans.
Look at this Roll Call in the House.
Yeas:
177 Republicans
26 Democrats
Nays:
5 Republicans
53 Democrats
I’m pretty comfortable in the partisan nature of the issue, thanks.