Subject: [big campaign] Rassmussen: Republican Voters Say GOP Reps in Congress Still Out of Touch
From: Aniello Alioto <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 11:29:06 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/august_2009/republican_voters_say_gop_reps_in_congress_still_out_of_touch

 *Republican Voters Say GOP Reps in Congress Still Out of Touch*
  Tuesday, September 01, 2009
 <javascript:void(0)>

Seventy-four percent (74%) of Republican voters say their party’s
representatives in Congress have lost touch with GOP voters nationwide over
the past several years. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone
survey finds that just 18% of GOP voters believe their elected officials
have done a good<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/august_2009/republican_voters_say_gop_reps_in_congress_still_out_of_touch#>job
representing the base.

Most Republican voters (55%) say that the average Republican in Congress is
more liberal than the average Republican voter. Twenty-four percent (24%)
say the average Republican in Congress holds views about the same as the
average Republican voter while just 17% think the Congressional Republicans
are more conservative than GOP voters.

Republican voters overwhelmingly believe it is more important for the
party<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/august_2009/republican_voters_say_gop_reps_in_congress_still_out_of_touch#>to
stand for what it believes in rather than trying to work with
President
Barack Obama. Eighty-four percent (84%) of Republicans hold that view while
just 14% favor more co-operation with the President.

As for voters not affiliated with either major party, 58% say the GOP should
stand for what it believes in while 33% would like to see more cooperation
with the President. Seventy-one percent (71%) of unaffiliated voters believe
the Republicans in Congress have lost touch with their base and a plurality
of unaffiliateds (41%) believe that the average Republican in Congress is
more liberal than the average Republican voters.

Not surprisingly, Democrats have a fundamentally different view.

Those in President Obama’s party overwhelmingly want the GOP to work more
closely with the President. And they have a wildly different perception of
the relationship between Republicans members of Congress and GOP voters.
While Republicans and unaffiliated voters tend to see Republicans in
Congress as more liberal than Republican voters, a plurality of Democrats
(35%) hold the opposite view and believe the average Republican in Congress
is more conservative than GOP voters. Nearly as many Democrats (33%) say
that ideologically, Republicans voters and their Representatives
share<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/august_2009/republican_voters_say_gop_reps_in_congress_still_out_of_touch#>common
ground. Just 18% of Democrats believe than the GOP representatives in
Congress are more liberal than GOP voters.

Overall, among all voters, 51% believe it is more important for the
Republican Party to stand for what it believes in than for the GOP to work
with President Obama. Forty-two percent (42%) disagree.

In late April,<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/may_2009/69_of_gop_voters_say_republicans_in_congress_out_of_touch_with_the_party_base>voters
were basically tied on this question.

Just 24% of all voters nationwide think Democrats should pass a health care
reform bill<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/august_2009/24_say_democrats_should_pass_health_care_reform_without_gop_votes>that
is opposed by all Republicans in Congress. Fifty-eight percent (58%)
say Democrats should change the bill to win support from "a reasonable
number of Republicans."

Thirty-seven percent (37%) of all voters say the average Republican member
of Congress is more liberal than the average GOP voter. Twenty-six percent
(26%) believe the average GOP congressman is more conservative, and 28% say
the two are about the same.

Sixty-seven percent (67%) of all voters believe Washington politics is
likely to become more partisan over the coming
year<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/partisan_politics>.
Fifty-one percent (51%) believe that Obama is governing as a partisan
Democrat.

This summer brought a significant shift in voter preferences in the Generic
Congressional Ballot<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/generic_congressional_ballot>.
Republican congressional candidates have now held a modest lead over
Democrats for nine straight weeks, after trailing for several years. It is
important to note, however, that the recent shift is not just because
Republicans have been gaining support but also because Democrats have lost
support.

For the first time in over two years of polling, voters trust Republicans
slightly more than Democrats on the handling of the issue of health
care<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/trust_on_issues>.
Overall, Republicans lead Democrats in terms of voter trust on eight out of
10 key issues for the second consecutive month, and the two are tied on one
issue.

Those who say economic and fiscal issues are their biggest concerns make up
the majority of Republican voters, and Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts
governor, runs best among those voters if the 2012 GOP Presidential Primary
in their state was held
today.<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2012/romney_leads_among_gop_voters_with_fiscal_concerns>

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is second to Romney as the presidential
candidate Republican voters say they’ll vote for in 2012 state GOP
primaries, but she’s also one of two candidates they least hope wins the
party’s nomination<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2012/palin_at_the_top_and_bottom_for_gop_voters_in_2012>.

In May, 37% of GOP voters said their party had no
leader<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/may_2009/only_37_of_gop_voters_now_say_party_is_leaderless>,
but that was an improvement over March when 68% felt that
way<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/march_2009/republicans_see_their_party_as_leaderless>.
In the more recent survey, Arizona Senator John McCain was seen as the
party’s leader by 18% of Republican voters, followed by national party
chairman Michael Steele at 14% and Palin with 10% support.

Only 29% of all voters are confident that Congress knows what it’s doing
with regards to the
economy.<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/august_2009/29_confident_that_congress_knows_what_it_s_doing_on_economy>Fifty-seven
percent (57%) say they would
vote to replace the entire Congress and start all over
again<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/august_2009/57_would_like_to_replace_entire_congress>.

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