Health Care

Polling results for October 2009 suggest that a majority of Texans hold unfavorable views of the way both parties in Washington are handling the issue of health care. Forty-nine percent of surveyed respondents strongly disapprove of the actions of President Obama and congressional Democrats on the issue of health care, while an additional 9% somewhat disapprove of their actions. Congressional Republicans do not fare much better -- 33% of respondents strongly disapprove of their actions on health care, and an additional 21% somewhat disapprove of them.

When the results concerning this issue are examined more closely, it becomes apparent that while partisan identifiers are generally (though often not strongly) supportive of the way their respective parties in Washington have handled the health care debate, independents who express no preference for either party overwhelmingly express negative views of the health care actions of both congressional Democrats and Republicans. Because independents join Republican identifiers in disapproving of congressional Democrats and join Democratic identifiers in disapproving of congressional Republicans, neither party garners the approval of a majority of respondents in the way it has been addressing health care reform.

Afghanistan policy

October 2009 results also suggest that the controversy over the future of American military presence in Afghanistan has polarized Democratic and Republican partisans at the mass level. Texans are deeply divided over their primary concern about Afghanistan policy -- 52% say they are more concerned that American troops will stay in Afghanistan "too long" than that they will leave "too soon," while 49% express the opposite sentiments. Among partisan groups, however, public opinion is far more homogeneous -- 80% of Democrats are more concerned that U.S. troops will "stay too long," while 76% of Republicans are more concerned that U.S. troops will "leave too soon." Independents are more closely divided, with 58% more concerned that troops will "stay too long" and 42% more concerned that troops will "leave too soon."

But while party identifiers in Texas are substantially divided over future developments in Afghanistan, they do not appear to hold very divergent assessments of American military actions in Afghanistan thus far. Indeed, Texans as a whole seem to have somewhat unfavorable views of the effects of American military involvement in Afghanistan to this point, irrespective of their party affiliations. Twenty-eight percent of respondents believe American military actions in Afghanistan have increased the threat of terrorism against the United States, while an additional 44% believe that the threat of terrorism against the United States has not changed much as a result of the American troop presence there.

Cap-And-Trade/Energy Policy

More Texans oppose the establishment of a cap-and-trade system to limit greenhouse gas emissions than support it, with 46% of respondents expressing some amount of opposition and 37% of respondents expressing some amount of support. As might be expected, views on cap-and-trade tend to break down along party lines, though not to the same extent as on health care or Afghanistan. Whereas 58% of Democrats express some amount of support for cap-and-trade and 16% express some amount of opposition, 67% of Republicans express some amount of opposition and 20% express some amount of support . Naturally, independents are more divided, with 50% expressing some amount of opposition and 33% expressing some amount of support.

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