NBC: 'As Bad as Things Are for the President, They're Still Worse for the Republicans'
While NBC political director Chuck Todd appeared on Thursday's Today to report on President Obama's approval rating hitting a "record low" in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll following the failed ObamaCare rollout, he made sure to wrap up the segment by touting disaster for the GOP: "Things
are so bad for them....Once again in our poll, the Republican Party had
a new low in their personal rating, their brand rating. They had
another low in their approval rating on Capitol Hill....As bad as things
are for the President, they're still worse for the Republicans." [Listen to the audio]
Co-host Matt Lauer teed up Todd to tear down them down: "...see how Republicans are faring in this latest poll. They're the ones who shut down the government." Todd agreed with that assertion: "They are."
During the shutdown, Todd used polling data to eagerly proclaim that the budget impasse had been an "unmitigated political disaster" for the GOP.
On Wednesday's Today, while Todd acknowledged a lack of
"competency" in the Obama administration related to ObamaCare, he went
out of his way to still slam Republicans, claiming the party "has no interest in governing."
Here is a transcript of Todd and Lauer discussing the new poll numbers on the October 31 Today:
7:10AM ET
(...)
LAUER: Let's take a look at the Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll and see how people are feeling about ObamaCare right now. There's been a flip in some numbers.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Feeling Worse?; Poll Shows Growing Negative View of ObamaCare]
TODD: Well, there is. And it's still – you know, during the shutdown, when the whole – Republicans were making the shutdown about health care, we actually saw the numbers for health care get a little bit better. After this, after the rollout, we're seeing once again the bad idea, almost a majority think the new health care law is a bad idea, and that continues to be a problem for the President.
LAUER: Let's talk about the President right now. Between Syria, between the shutdown, between ObamaCare, how are his approval numbers stacking up?
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Presidential Approval; Ratings Dip in Wake of ObamaCare Woes]
TODD: Record low. This 42%, we have never recorded his approval rating this low at this point in time. When you look, he started the year at fifty-two. And he has just gone down. Before, this was Syria at 45. During the shutdown, he actually saw a little bit of a bounce up, but that was in comparison to the Republicans. But when you look at the weight of everything, particularly Syria, NSA – we always forget about that one – health care, and the shutdown, that's why he's sitting there. I mean, when you've got a majority, getting over 51 [percent disapproval rating] – and by the way, even his likability rating is upside down for the first time. People are starting to not even like him as much as they used to.
LAUER: One side of the political coin, let's go to the others right now and see how Republicans are faring in this latest poll. They're the ones who shut down the government.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Fed Up; Voters Still Sour on Congress]
TODD: They are. Things are so bad for them. We asked, "If you could have a choice of a third party candidate or the Democratic or the Republican candidate, what would you pick?" Independent candidate actually finished ahead of the Republicans. Once again in our poll, the Republican Party had a new low in their personal rating, their brand rating. They had another low in their approval rating on Capitol Hill. Seeing a question like this, where they can't, where they finish behind a mythical independent candidate. As bad as things are for the President, they're still worse for the Republicans.
LAUER: Alright, Chuck Todd. Chuck, thanks very much for coming up. We appreciate it.
TODD: Sorry I dressed as a tv correspondent.
LAUER: You look great, don't worry about it.
— Kyle Drennen is Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.
