Cooperation vs. Confrontation: Do Nice Guys Finish First?

 

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Notably, among liberal or moderate independents, 62 percent think Obama's focused more on cooperation. Among conservative independents that plummets to 38 percent.

Across the aisle the tables turn, though the differences are less sharp. A bare majority of Republicans, 52 percent, think their own party's leaders are more interested in cooperation than in division; 34 percent of independents and just 13 percent of Democrats agree. Similarly, 52 percent of Republicans see Palin as more cooperative than divisive; that drops to 35 percent of independents and 23 percent of Democrats. And 45 percent of Republicans see the Tea Party mainly as encouraging cooperation, vs. 36 percent of independents and 17 percent of Democrats.

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ABC News/Yahoo! News Poll on Political Confrontation

Majorities of Democrats, independents and Republicans alike -- 69, 58 and 58 percent -- think conservative talk show hosts are more interested in encouraging political division than cooperation. Only among Americans who describe their own political views as "very conservative" is there a close division -- 48-43 percent -- on whether conservative talk radio hosts are working toward cooperation or division.

Virtually across the board, majorities also say both the mainstream media and cable news programs are more interested in division than in fostering political cooperation, with these sentiments peaking among Republicans and conservatives.

METHODOLOGY -- This ABC News/Yahoo News! poll was conducted Oct. 6-12, 2010, among a random national sample of 1,025 adults. Respondents were selected using an address-based sample design. Households for which a phone number could be ascertained were contacted by phone; others were contacted by mail and asked to complete the survey via a toll-free inbound phone number or the internet. See details here. Results for the full sample have a 4-point error margin. Click here for a detailed description of sampling error.

This survey was produced by Langer Research Associates of New York, with sampling, data collection and tabulation by SSRS of Media, Pa.

ABC News polls can be found at ABCNEWS.com at http://abcnews.com/pollingunit