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Poll: Republicans support pathway to citizenship — unless Obama advocates it
Six in 10 Republican voters say they would be supportive of a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers — until told that President Obama has proposed such a plan, which drops support a full 21 percentage points.
Republicans are also less likely to support an end to the Afghan war or believe the nation should address climate change if the president's name is attached to the proposal, a new survey from the Washington Post and ABC News found. While 66 percent support ending the war and 32 percent want the government to address climate change, those numbers dip to 62 percent and 24 percent, respectively, when the president's name is attached.
Democrats, however, are more likely to support proposals when survey takers indicate Obama supports a policy. Attaching the president's name raises Democratic approval for an assault weapons ban by 16 points, ending the Afghan war by 8 points, and addressing climate change by 6 points.
The survey results underscore some of the difficulties Obama will face heading into his State of the Union address Tuesday night. He is expected to address each of the aforementioned issues at some point in his speech, highlighting his immigration-reform plan, gun control, plan to pull troops from Afghanistan, and new climate change executive actions. There's advantage in doing so, capitalizing on policies that now enjoy broad appeal across party lines and rallying supporters to advocate for their passage. But the president also risks polarizing an issue, splitting off Republicans who might otherwise support a proposal because they do not like him personally.
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