President Barack Obama The latest Rutgers-Eagleton poll shows that most people in New Jersey believe President Obama does not deserve re-election. That's no surprise, given how grouchy people are about the economy. Polls show people are just as grouchy about Gov. Chris Christie running for a second term.
The interesting nuggets from this poll lies elsewhere, in the cross tabs that ask people more nuanced questions.
Here’s the shocker: 53 percent of Republicans in New Jersey think Obama is a socialist.
This is crazy stuff. Like Obama or not, he has been a close friend of the big capitalists. He saved the banks and auto companies with government money, and is unloading the government’s shares as quickly as he can. He agreed to keep the Bush tax cuts in place for the wealthy. He agreed to devote roughly one-third of his stimulus plan to tax cuts for business and others. He has been banging his head into brick wall to get free trade pacts approved in Congress.
If he were a socialist, he might have at least pressed for a health care plan like Canada’s, which is basically Medicare for all. He certainly would not have set up this Rube Goldberg scheme that bends over backward to preserve the position of private insurers.
Nor would he be so comfortable presiding over a nation where the divide between rich and poor continues to grow, and is now as wide as it was under Herbert Hoover, who was surely no socialist.
It’s no surprise when Tea Party kooks from Georgia say stuff like this. But a majority of Republicans in New Jersey? That’s just sad.