Poll: Partisanship expected to get worse

Americans don’t expect the partisan rancor in Washington to die down anytime soon, a new poll suggests.

A
Rasmussen survey of likely voters released Sunday found that 61 percent of
respondents expect politics in Washington to become more partisan over the
next year. Nineteen percent think there will be more cooperation, while
20 percent were not sure.

{mosads}The number of voters predicting more partisanship was slightly lower than in February and March during the height of the polarizing
healthcare debate, but it is significantly higher than when President
Barack Obama took office last year.

Obama famously pledged to usher in a new era of bipartisanship, but
his ambitious agenda has met with near-unanimous opposition from
Republicans. More than one in four voters said Obama was governing in a
bipartisan manner, while a slight majority (52 percent) said he was governing
as a partisan Democrat, the Rasmussen poll found.

Democrats have blamed GOP obstructionism for the partisan climate,
saying Republicans made a political decision early on to oppose Obama
at every turn. Republicans say Obama has pursued a liberal agenda that
is out of step with the majority of Americans.

The Rasmussen poll found that 61 percent of respondents believe
congressional Democrats are acting in a partisan manner, while 52 percent said
Republicans were acting partisan. The margin of error was plus or minus
3 percentage points.