The day after discontented Massachusetts voters sent a Republican to the Senate for the first time since the seventies, we polled a random (but apparently quite liberal) sample of 100 pedestrians at the corner of Houston and Varick Streets to see what’s getting the goat of our unruly populace.
How do you feel about Republican Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts’s special Senate election?
Indifferent: 44
Depressed: 23
Resigned: 17
Angry: 13
Elated: 12
What are you angriest about?
• “Unemployment.”
• “The stupidity of the electorate.”
• “Corporate corruption.”
• “Gay marriage (or lack thereof).”
• “I want weed legalized.”
• “The lack of corporate accountability.”
• “Economic inequities.”
• “The war.”
• “Paterson.”
• “Size of the deficit and taxes.”
• “The student Metrocards.”
• “The promises Obama couldn’t fulfill.”
• “The inept Democratic party.”
• “Obama’s vow of transparency and his actual practice of backdoor deals.”
• “The way the city is driving us crazy with parking violations.”
“It’s upsetting to be so divided as a country.”
• “Financial crooks, e.g., Goldman Sachs.”
• “Debt of all kinds.”
Did you vote for Obama?
71: Yes
27: No
If yes, would you still vote for him today?
62: Yes
6:No
What should Obama focus on next?
• Job Creation: 55
• Climate Change: 13
• Wall Street Reform: 7
• “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”: 6
• Terrorism: 4
• Closing Guantánamo:4
• Those Walk/ Don’t Walk Signs That Display Both Signals When It Gets Cold: 2
Should Wall Street institutions that received federal aid be specially taxed?
• Yes—they’d be out of business without taxpayers: 74
• No—don’t punish them for turning themselves around: 19
How would you feel if health-care reform were killed?
• It would be a tragedy: 68
• I wouldn’t care, it wasn’t going to help me anyway: 10
• I wouldn’t care, the bill was too compromised to work: 7
• I always opposed it: 7
Obama is losing popularity because …
• He’s expanding government too much: 22
• He’s indecisive and compromises too much: 67
Increasing the military presence in Afghanistan is …
• The only way to redeem the situation: 33
•Just going to lead to more useless death and debt: 58
Have you given money to Haiti relief efforts?
• Yes: 44
• No: 56
How do you feel about Kirsten Gillibrand and her potential primary challenger, Harold Ford Jr.?
• I don’t know much about either of them: 61
• Gillibrand is fine, why do we need to replace her?: 6
• Why does a guy who just moved from Tennessee for a big Wall Street job think he can represent New York?: 19
• I’ll give him a chance: 4
Are you personally angrier than ever about the state of the world?
• Yes: 51
• No: 47
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