Your poll of polls

A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows President Obama’s favorability ratings slipping a little. Another poll shows Republican self-loathing at remarkably high levels. If those aren’t contradictory results, they at least present an interesting contrast. What else are opinion polls telling us about ourselves? Plenty. More than I can pack into this little space. I polled the polls for a glimpse.

Inevitability Award: 60 percent of respondents in last week’s NBC/WSJ poll had a very or somewhat positive view of the president, which sounds pretty good until you realize that 66 percent liked him in January. Meanwhile, former Vice President Dick Cheney, who’s practically been on TV more in the last three months than in the previous eight years combined, edged up on the lovability meter, from 21 percent in December to 26 percent today. Does that mean we’ll be seeing more of him? Egad.

Best Reason to Consider Counseling: A new poll from Gallup says 38 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents have an unfavorable opinion of their own party, compared with just 7 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaners down on their party.

Politicians who may aim to heal the partisan rift have their work cut out for them: 78 percent of Democrats view the GOP unfavorably, while 85 percent of Republicans view the Democratic Party unfavorably, the survey found. In other words, polarization is worse than ever, but self-loathing remains almost exclusively a Republican trait — although, to be fair, the Republicans polled seem to dislike everyone.

Asked who was the leader of the GOP, 10 percent of Republicans said Rush Limbaugh, 10 percent said Newt Gingrich, 9 percent said Dick Cheney, 6 percent said John McCain and 17 percent said nobody. Gulp.

Loudest Potential Response to That Last Item: Republican affiliation is down in almost every major demographic, and a majority of Americans say there’s no clear leader for the GOP. And yet conservatives remain the largest ideological group in the nation. The same Gallup Poll reports that 40 percent of Americans identify their political views as conservative, while 35 percent say they’re moderate and 21 percent call themselves liberal. Last year just 37 percent of Americans called themselves conservative. Can we credit Obama for encouraging a few more to sign up? Seems likely.

Strongest Indication That the West is Confused: Pollster Frank Luntz says 44 percent of the Westerners he asked were unhappy with the federal government, followed by the South with 37 percent, the Midwest at 34 percent and the Northeast at 32 percent. But more than 60 percent of the Westerners polled approved of the job Obama has done so far. We have no idea what to make of that.

Score One For the Spies Award: The CIA doesn’t always poll well with Americans, who tend to see that spy agency as overzealous and ineffective, but when the G-Men go up against Nancy Pelosi, it’s a different story. On the did-she-know question regarding rough interrogation techniques, Americans believe the CIA over Pelosi, 56 percent to 22 percent.

Most Important Poll of the Week: With the June wedding season in full bloom, Brides.com and The Associated Press asked wedding guests about the economy’s effect on nuptials. The verdict: Not much. We were more interested in the food questions: What kind of fare would you prefer at the reception?

The most luxurious option of champagne and caviar had few fans (15 percent). The favorite was wine and chicken breasts (57 percent). But my choice was a respectable second: Beer and pigs in a blanket (20 percent). Must have been the guy vote.