Poll: Public bracing for more gridlock

Americans are extremely skeptical that President Obama and the incoming Republican Congress will come together to solve the country’s problems, with a new Associated Press/GfK poll showing just 13 percent of Americans confident the leaders will be able to work collaboratively.

{mosads}The president has said repeatedly that he hopes he can work with Republicans on issues like corporate tax reform, trade, patent reform, cybersecurity and infrastructure investments.

“You could see an environment begin to emerge of productivity in Washington, which would be exciting,” Obama said earlier this month to a gathering of business executives. “I love signing bills.”

And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Wednesday that Obama had “the opportunity to work with the incoming Congress to make it easier to create and keep good jobs here in America.”

But voters seem to reject the leaders’ professed optimism.

Less than 20 percent of Democrats and fewer than 1 in 10 Republicans believe the two sides will be able to work together. Blame is distributed across the board: 41 percent says neither side is willing to do enough to collaborate, while 35 percent says Republicans are the main roadblock and 22 percent thinks President Obama is unwilling to bend.

As a result, only 36 percent of Americans believe that lawmakers will be able to restore public trust in government.

As for specific policies, a majority thinks the president will block Republicans from overhauling his signature healthcare law. But most Americans believe neither the Congress nor the president will be able to proactively accomplish their policy goals for the next two years.

And the malaise has also spread to voters’ overall views of Congress. Despite Republicans’ sweeping electoral victories just a month ago, a majority of voters — 52 percent — say they’re disappointed with the results. Both congressional approval — 15 percent — and presidential approval — 41 percent — remain essentially unchanged from before the election, and half of all those surveyed say they’re frustrated.

To underscore the discontent, just 37 percent of all Americans and 20 percent of those under age 30 describe themselves as hopeful when they consider the results of the election. By comparison, three-quarters of Americans said they were hopeful after the president’s first election, and two-thirds described themselves that way after the GOP’s midterm victories in 2010.