Rasmussen Reports...
What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls
Saturday, August 27, 2011 

Even as a hurricane of perhaps historic dimensions closes in on the East Coast, the real storm in the country remains the beat-up and begging economy. Americans also continue to show little confidence in the president and the federal government to make a difference. 

The economy is naturally the number one issue on voters’ minds, with 84% rating it Very Important in terms of how they will vote in the next congressional election. No wonder many congressmen home on their August recess are avoiding holding town hall meetings right now. 

At the same time, voter perceptions of President Obama’s handling of the economy has fallen to a new low. Just 29% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the president is doing a good or an excellent job on the economy. While most voters continue to blame the struggling economy on the recession that began during the Bush administration, the number that trusts their own economic judgment more than the president’s (65%) is at a new high. 

The Rasmussen Consumer and Investor Indexes, which measure the daily confidence of both groups, show little change from the week before and still remain well below where they were three months ago. Only 18% of consumers say U.S. economic conditions are getting better, while most (64%) think they are getting worse. Investors are only slightly less pessimistic. 

Just 14% of voters now say the country is heading in the right direction. Since the third week in July, the number who are confident in the nation’s current course has resembled levels measured in the final months of the Bush administration. 

Meanwhile, Obama is earning some of the lowest job approval ratings of his entire presidency in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll. 

A generic Republican candidate continues to lead the president in a hypothetical 2012 election match-up. But Obama remains ahead of all named Republicans in early polling on the race for the White House. 

The president earns 43% of the vote if Texas Governor Rick Perry, the new frontrunner in the Republican contest, is the opposing party’s nominee. Perry attracts support from 40%. If Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is the GOP candidate, the president leads 43% to 39%. With former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney as his opponent, the president leads 46% to 38%. 

The president and Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul are running almost dead even, but given that matchup, 22% either prefer another candidate or remain undecided. 

The only time Obama hits the magical 50% mark is when he’s matched up against former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin who picks up just 33% voter support. Palin has a busy schedule leading up to a major public event in Iowa on September 3, and Republican insider Karl Rove predicts she’s about to enter the race for the GOP presidential nomination. 

Who are Republican voters going to choose to be their standard-bearer? Right now, GOP voters want to have it both ways: They like a presidential candidate with business and government experience but rate life in the private sector as slightly more important. 

There’s a higher degree of confidence in the business community among all Americans. The Obama administration is expected to announce more infrastructure spending as part of a new jobs plan next month, but Americans still think private companies will do more to create jobs than the government can. In fact, only 18% believe a billion dollars spent by the government on new highways would do more to create jobs than a billion dollars spent by private companies to expand business. 

Yet most Americans think businesses should focus more on the greater good of their fellow citizens. Twenty-six percent (26%) of Adults say the primary objective of a business should be to create value for the shareholders, but 64% believe its primary purpose should be to create jobs for the overall economy. 

Speaking of jobs, voters have consistently supported tough penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants, and 40% believe those illegals take jobs away from U.S. citizens. But, even in this tough economy, 49% say illegal immigrants perform jobs that U.S. citizens won’t do. Most Republicans think illegal immigrants take jobs away from U.S. citizens, while a majority of Democrats and voters not affiliated with either party disagree. 

Perhaps that helps explain why the Obama administration is slowing the pace of deportations to focus on illegal immigrants with criminal records. Critics complain the move is intended to get around Congress’ refusal to pass the so-called Dream Act aimed at providing a path to citizenship for those who came to the country illegally before age 16. But only 32% of voters believe children of parents in this country illegally should be allowed to attend public school here. Several states have made illegal immigrants eligible for lower in-state tuition at colleges and universities, but 81% oppose such a move in their state. Just 18% of voters believe illegal immigrants should be allowed to obtain U.S. driver’s licenses. 

Voters continue to strongly believe – now by a two-to-one margin - that gaining control of the border is more important than legalizing the status of undocumented workers already living in the United States. 

Several states including Arizona and Alabama have passed laws cracking down on illegal immigration because of their unhappiness with federal immigration policies. Americans overall tend to trust governments closer to home rather than the federal government and worry that the team in DC has too much influence over state governments. Most voters still believe states should be able to ignore federal programs they don’t like, especially if the federal government doesn’t help pay for them. 

Americans increasingly think government anti-poverty programs cause more poverty in this country. They overwhelmingly believe the bigger problem with the welfare system in the United States is that there are too many overqualified recipients rather than not enough. Most also think legal immigrants should have to wait at least three years before being eligible for welfare benefits. 

Thank you to all of you who are now listening to Scott Rasmussen on The Rasmussen Report Sunday on WMAL/630AM in Washington, D.C. and WLS/890AM in Chicago or following the program online. It looks like Hurricane Irene is going to cause Scott to take a break this weekend, but look for The Rasmussen Report next Sunday at 3pm Eastern/2pm Central as usual. 

Read it with links at Rasmussen