Generic Congressional Ballot
Republicans Maintain Lead Over Democrats on Generic Ballot
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 Email to a Friend ShareThis.Advertisement
The findings in the latest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot remain fairly steady, as Republican candidates continue to hold a modest lead over Democrats for the seventh straight week.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 42% would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate while 38% would opt for his or her Democratic opponent.
Support for Democratic candidates is unchanged this week, but backing for GOP candidates dropped one point from last week.
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Over the past 12 months, Democratic support on the congressional ballot has ranged from a low of 37% to a high of 50%. In that same time period, Republicans have been preferred by anywhere from 34% to 43% of voters nationwide.
Democrats held a six- or seven-point lead on the ballot for the first few weeks of 2009. That began to slip in early February, and from mid-April through June the two parties were roughly even. Republicans have held a lead on the ballot since the last week in June, the first time they'd been on top in well over a year.
Women now give a slight edge to Democrats, 42% to 40%, after favoring the GOP for the first time in recent years last week. Men prefer Republicans by a 45% to 34% margin.
Voters not affiliated with either party continue to prefer Republicans nearly two-to-one - 42% to 22%.
As Congress left town for a month-long recess, its approval ratings are at the lowest level since early February. Forty-one percent (41%) of voters have a favorable opinion of the people opposing health care reform at town hall meetings now being conducted by members of Congress, while 35% view the protesters unfavorably.
But voters also overwhelmingly say that members of Congress listen to party leaders more than their own constituents.
Public support for the health care reform plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats continues to fall: 42% now favor it, but 53% are opposed.
Thirty-two percent (32%) of voters nationwide favor asingle-payer health care system where the federal government provides coverage for everyone, but 57% are opposed to such a plan.
When it comes to health care decisions, 51% of voters fear the government more than private insurance companies. Only 25% of voters agree with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that health insurance companies are “villains”.
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Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.
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Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade. |
