Rasmussen
Reports...
What They Told Us:
Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls
Saturday, April 23, 2011
It was a week for looking back, but when Americans did look ahead, they
didn’t like much of what they saw.
A year ago last Wednesday, an explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil
rig marked the beginning of the most devastating oil spill ever in the
Gulf of Mexico. Most voters (54%) now think the cleanup from that spill
has been fairly successful and appear less concerned about the
long-term effect on the environment. But voters still give low
grades to both the federal government and the companies responsible for
their response to the spill.
At the same time, support for deepwater oil drilling has reached its
highest level since the Gulf oil spill began. Fifty-nine percent
(59%) now say deepwater drilling should be allowed. Twenty-two percent
(22%) oppose deepwater drilling, while another 20% are undecided.
Support for continuing U.S. military operations in Libya is holding
steady from two weeks ago after a drop-off in support from just after
the mission began last month. But voters remain almost evenly
divided over U.S. military involvement in the Libyan political crisis.
However, most voters now expect the U.S. military’s role in Libya to
last beyond this year. Only 36% believe it is even somewhat
likely that U.S. military involvement in Libya will be over by the end
of the year. Fifty-five percent (55%) hold the opposite view and think
the U.S. role is unlikely to end by December 31.
For Christians worldwide, this Easter weekend celebrates the ultimate
sacrifice 2,000 years ago. Seventy-eight percent (78%) of Americans
believe Jesus Christ to be the son of God who came to Earth to die for
our sins and 74% believe he rose from the dead.
In addition to being Good Friday, marking the day on which Christ was
crucified, this past Friday was the 42nd time that Earth Day has been
celebrated. Eighteen percent (18%) planned to celebrate the occasion
and Americans are closely divided over whether the informal annual
holiday has raised the environmental consciousness of their fellow
countrymen. But they strongly believe improving the environment
occurs on a personal level. However, just 27% of Adults say Americans
are being selfish by putting their economic concerns ahead of the fight
against global warming.
Speaking of economic concerns, both short and long-term confidence in
the U.S. housing market continue to fall, with homeowners now
expressing the highest level of pessimism in two years. Only 39%
of homeowners now think that the value of their home will go up over
the next five years. In April 2009, 55% expected their house’s value to
rise in five year’s time.
Just one-out-of-two Americans (50%) say their home is worth more than
what they still owe on their mortgage. That’s down from 61% in December
2008. Perhaps the most stunning data point is that even among
people who bought their home more than five years ago, just 52% believe
their home is worth more than the mortgage.
Only 51% now believe buying a home is a family’s best investment.
That’s down from 73% in February 2009. Just once before – in August of
last year - has the belief in home ownership been this low.
At week’s end, consumer and investor confidence as measured by the
Rasmussen Consumer and Investor Indexes stabilized at levels just above
2011 lows. The indexes fell following Standard and Poor’s
announcement that it has shifted the U.S. credit outlook from stable to
negative.
Most voters still blame the nation’s economic problems on the George W.
Bush years, but they also continue to trust their own economic judgment
more than that of President Obama.
Twenty-two percent (22%) of Likely U.S. Voters now say the country is
heading in the right direction. That ties the lowest number of
Obama’s presidency. Seventy percent (70%) say the country is heading
down the wrong track.
Thirty-five percent (35%) of voters now think the president’s
leadership style is too cooperative. That’s the highest finding since
December 2009. Only 22% believe the president is too
confrontational, while 31% characterize his leadership style as about
right.
As of Friday, the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll
found that 47% of voters at least somewhat approve of the president’s
performance, while 53% disapprove. That marks no significant
change from recent weeks.
Obama leads Donald Trump by 15 percentage points – 49% to 34% - in a
hypothetical 2012 match-up, but the president is unable to top the 50%
level of support even against an opponent some are deriding as a
joke. Voters strongly prefer a presidential candidate with both
government and private sector experience. They also like a
candidate who thinks like they do over one who can more surely win, as
Scott Rasmussen explains in more detail in a new video.
Voters aren’t unhappy with just the president, though. Ratings
for Congress have fallen to the lowest level since late 2008.
Only nine percent (9%) now say Congress is doing a good or excellent
job.
Republicans hold a just three-point lead over Democrats on the Generic
Congressional Ballot for the week ending April 17, 2011. That
ties the narrowest gap between the two in months.
One continuing area of unhappiness with Congress is immigration policy.
Nearly two-thirds of voters still believe border control should be the
top priority in the fight against illegal immigration, but they also
continue to support a welcoming immigration policy.
Several Republican senators are seeking to amend the law that grants
full U.S. citizenship to children born to illegal immigrants in this
country, and 61% of voters agree that a child born in the United States
to a woman who is here illegally should not automatically become a U.S.
citizen. That’s the highest level of support for changing the
existing law found in five years of Rasmussen Reports surveying.
Read the rest of the article with links at Rasmussen Reports
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