Posted on 04/20/2010 8:33:49 PM PDT by freespirited
Republican candidates now hold a 10-point lead over Democrats in the latest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot, tying the GOP's high for the year recorded the second week in March and their biggest lead in nearly three years of weekly tracking.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 46% of likely U.S. voters would vote for their district's Republican congressional candidate, while 36% would opt for his or her Democratic opponent.
This comes even as separate polling shows 74% of voters correctly identify Republicans as the political party Democrats have labeled the Party of No for their opposition to President Obama's agenda.
But then the government bailouts of the financial industry and troubled automakers General Motors and Chrysler are still a sore subject with most voters. Fifty-seven percent (57%) have more confidence in the judgment of a member of Congress who voted against bailouts than in the judgment of one who voted for them.
Voter support for Republicans is up slightly from last week, while support for Democrats held steady. Since the beginning of the year, however, the Republican lead hasn't dipped below seven points.
Forty-five percent (45%) of voters not affiliated with either major party now prefer the Republican candidate, while 23% like the Democrat. These results show little change from the previous survey.
GOP candidates started 2010 ahead by nine points, while support for Democrats fell to its lowest level over the same period. Towards the end of 2009, Republicans enjoyed a more modest lead over Democrats, with the gap between the two down to four points in early December.
Throughout the fall and winter of 2008, support for Democratic congressional candidates ranged from 42% to 47%. Republican support ranged from 37% to 41%. When Obama was inaugurated in January 2009, Democrats enjoyed a seven-point advantage on the Generic Ballot.
The two parties were very close on the Generic Ballot throughout the spring of 2009, but in late June, around the same time Democrats began their campaign for health care reform, Republicans pulled ahead for good.
Just after Congress' passage of the national health care plan, voter support for both parties spiked: Democrats reached their highest level of support measured since early December 2009, while GOP support matched its highest level measured since weekly tracking began in early April 2007.
Support for repeal of the health care plan is proving to be just as consistent as opposition to the plan before it was passed. Fifty-six percent (56%) now favor repeal.
Following passage of the health care bill, increased enthusiasm among Democratic voters helped House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earn her highest favorables in over a year, but 52% of voters still have an unfavorable opinion of Pelosi, who remains the best-known and least-liked congressional leader.
President Obama soon will announce his second nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, and 56% of voters believe it is fair for a U.S. senator to oppose an otherwise qualified court nominee because of disagreements over ideology or judicial philosophy.
In March, the number of Democrats increased by just over a full percentage point, and the number of Republicans increased by just under a full percentage point. This is consistent with other data showing that the health care debate heightened passions on both sides of the aisle.
Nice to see but meaningless.
Lets hope it translates to conservatives being elected.
Manufacturing over 10% for the total votes to ensure victory could be a real problem for Democrats.
minus the Donna Brazille/Acorn factor, that’s a +4 to +5 Repub
let’s hope any Amnesty bill is doa...
“Manufacturing over 10% for the total votes to ensure victory could be a real problem for Democrats.”
I read somewhere that the GOP routinely factors about 5% for Democrat fraud. The recent elections in New Jersey and Massachussetts are what really gives me some hope.
How so?
Christie(GOP) won by a bigger margin that the last RCP average poll said he would in the NJ elections. And NJ is as blue as they come.
Does this mean that only 36 percent of the American people are hard-line Stalinists now?
How so?
Agree.
Ignore previous reply.
The time for an Amnesty Bill won't come until after the November election.
If there is a GOP blowout, count on Reid and Pelosi to call a lame duck session between the election and the installation of the new Congress in January.
It would actually be easier for them to pass Amnesty in this environment than before the election. They can tell all the defeated Democrats that they've nothing more to lose, they'll be rewarded with federal jobs and union sinecures...and they can insure the ascendancy of the Democrat party for a generation.
Plus, they'll get the support of RINOs like Lindsay Graham and John McCain -- especially if he's defeated in the primary. It will be an opportunity for him to poke a stick in conservative eyes one last time.
Even if we win in November, the lame duck session could be a disaster for America.
It was meant for the post above yours.
Apologies.
No problem.
Show me where this trranslates into a takeover of the House . I dont see it
Obviously this is not to say that incumbents never lose. Nor am I saying that the poll results are not good for what they are worth. It's just that they aren't worth much.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.