[tellw]

The Post's article about this poll by Richard Morin is a for the birdcage. He doesn't even mention how the GOP rated. And I bet they are not going to put this into the print edition so you're only going to see this here. Of course if Dems were leading by this much it would be all over the story.

[tellw]

Oops, that should say Republicans with 49 PERCENT.

[JameRetief]

bump for later.

[Savage Beast]

Of course you're right, but you know it galls those decadent fools at the Washington Post just to see these poll results.

[Always Right]

The Democratic opposition to the war in Iraq is the sole cause of the GOP surge, there is no doubt about it.

[Mike Darancette]

This is indeed distressing news for Daschle - Awwwwwww!

Even with the margin of error the GOP is in pretty good shape.

[JameRetief]

Hmmm, some of the questions and answers were quite interesting:

Do you think things in this country are generally going in the right direction or do you feel things have gotten pretty seriously off on the wrong track?

                Right      Wrong     No
              Direction    Track    opin. 
9/6/02           43         54        4
2/21/02          54         42        4
2/14/99          55         41        4

I wish some follow up questions would be asked to find out what circumstances are causing shifts like these. Are the "wrong track" issues something largely apolitical like child kidnappings, or are they more along the lines of congressional conduct or financial scandals?  Looking at the answers to other questions, if the wrong track trend is political in nature the public might be seeing the Democrats as a reason for the wrong track.  They did not fare as well in this poll as Republicans in the various areas where questions were asked.

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bush is handling...?

                                          Approve   Disapprove   No opin.
a. The economy                               54          42          4
b. Environmental issues                      53          40          7
c. Education                                 62          30          8
d. The federal budget                        50          41          9
e. The U.S. campaign against terrorism       70          28          3
f. Social Security                           47          37         16

Considering how the media tries to portray Bush as an enemy to most of the issues, these seem to be decent numbers across the board.

Right now, are you inclined to vote to re-elect your representative in Congress in the next election, or are you inclined to look around for someone else to vote for?

                 Re-elect      Look around    Depends (vol.)   No opin.
9/6/02              43             43              7               7
2/21/02             40             48              7               6

Do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of: 

                          Favorable     Unfavorable     No opinion
a. The Republican party      57             37               6
b. The Democratic party      49             43               7

Trend:

a. The Republican Party

             Favorable   Unfavorable   No opinion
9/6/02          57           37             6
1/27/02         63           30             7
7/30/01         51           46             3

b. The Democratic Party

             Favorable   Unfavorable   No opinion
9/6/02          49           43             7
1/27/02         56           36             8
7/30/01         60           36             4

Pre and post 9-11 numbers are interesting contrasts.  While both parties have slipped, the Republicans have kept the more favorable impression overall, still up over pre 9-11 numbers.  The numbers for the Democrats are not good news for them.  This could bode a decent advantage in the upcoming elections for the Republicans gaining back the Senate and increasing seats in the House.  With the new focus on Iraq, this will likely only get better.

If the election for the U.S. House of Representatives were being
held today, would you vote for (the Democratic candidate) or (the Republican
candidate) in your congressional district? (IF OTHER, NEITHER, DK, REF)
Would you lean toward the (Democratic candidate) or toward the (Republican
candidate)?

Net Leaned Vote:

                 Dem      Rep     Other     Neither     Will not      No
                cand.    cand.    (vol.)    (vol.)     vote (vol.)    op.
9/6/02   All     41        49       1         2            1          5
7/15/02  All     47        45       1         1            1          4
7/15/02  RV      47        46       1         1            1          4 

Compare to:

Registered voters:
Net leaned vote:

                                      Neither    Wouldn't
              Democrat   Republican   (vol.)   vote (vol.)  No opin.
1/27/02          43          50         2          1           5

Considering that "likely voter" trends tend to break for Republicans, these numbers which don't even account for voting habits could be VERY good news indeed.

[FryingPan101]

Oh Dear. You would think the American people are about to throw another tantrum, huh?

[jokemoke]

Yes, the DemocRATS are hated by oh so many.... He,he,he,he,he!

[randita]

This poll was taken of 1,300 "randomly selected adults" and still the GOP trounces the DEMs. Amazing, indeed. If this trend holds up, it bodes very well for the GOP to hold the House handily, and regain the Senate. These poll numbers should spell defeat for Torricelli, Tim Johnson and others who are holding on for dear life.

I do hope the GOP regains the Senate, so Bush can get his judges approved. Then Rehnquist and O'Connor can retire as they've purportedly wanted to do for several years now. Ginsburg might just give up and retire as well. She's not in the best of health.

[white trash redneck]

This is truly ghastly news for the RATs, since these generic polls typically overstate RAT support by 3-5%.

[Mike Darancette]

BUMP

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

The Republican lead will grow to 55% by election day.

[j271]

It looks like the liberal media deliberately spikes any reports on positive poll numbers for the GOP to make sure they can't build any momentum.

In contrast, positive numbers for the Democrats always seem to receive huge play.

[joeyman]

This poll indicates a blowout in Nov in favor of the Repubs. However, I'll wait till I see add'l polls that confirm it - this is so strong I want to see other polls before I buy into the msg here.

Generally polls showing a 50 50 split produce a 4 to 6% republican victory on election day. If this is true - this could remove the McGovern Wing of the Democratic Party from power permanently.

[Mike Darancette]

Why was the LA Times Generic poll touted on CNN showing the Rats up 10%?

[Doe Eyes]

I fear these numbers are inflated by the Liberal Post to boost Democratic voting. Beware the "devil" Washington Post.

[CyberAnt]

The stat that excites me the most is "1% say they're NOT voting". If only that were true, the repubs would win in a landslide.

[GretchenEE]

bump

[MinorityRepublican]

I am sure that we are all looking forward to a landslide similiar to 1994.

Let's see if the numbers will hold up.

[AmishDude]

I'm sorry. I know a weekend/summer/vacation poll favors Democrats, so this is a good sign, but I have a policy of rejecting any poll taken over the weekend or before labor day.

The latest Washington Post poll is based on telephone interviews with 1,003 randomly selected adults nationwide and was conducted Sept. 3-6, 2002.