Generic Congressional Ballot: Republicans 46%, Democrats 36%

Rasmussen Reports ^ | 04/19/10

[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.

[ExTexasRedhead]

It is up to us to ensure that they don’t steal a damn thing. Our freedom is at stake as well as our security and our future. We’re at war for our survival as a nation. Organize and take video cameras everywhere.

[Liz]

[justiceseeker93]

Excellent cartoon, but I notice it's dated for last December. I presume that whatever the donks are holding with the red cross on it represents their health care plan, which hopefully will come crashing down with them come November.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks justiceseeker93. Zero (or his Puppetmasters) plan to throw under the bus any Demwit who doesn’t demonstrate idealogical purity and/or the right skin tone — or if that won’t work, then any Demwit who doesn’t think that Zero got him or her into office in the first place. Major liabilities (and possible political rivals) will be the only exceptions, because either A) they will come to owe their next reelection to Zero’s help, or B) they will come in handy as scapegoats for major stuff that goes wrong (think, “show trial”). The more a fellow Demwit is seen as a rival for the Presidency, the more quickly their personal political destruction will be begun.

[Impy]

They didn’t have any problem with Rasmussen till he he started showing them consistently trailing in key races.