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Rasmussen...
What They Told Us:
Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls
Saturday, January 29, 2011
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President Obama, in his State of the Union address last Tuesday night,
called his plans for targeted new spending in areas like education,
transportation and technology “investment,” but his speech did little
to sell the idea to voters.
Rasmussen Reports asked voters the same three questions about the
president’s economic proposals on the two nights prior to the speech
and then again on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. On the first two
nights, 39% supported the proposals. On the next two nights, support
was 41%. Fifty percent (50%) now oppose the federal government spending
more money in areas like education, transportation and technological
innovation, up from 45% in the previous survey. Scott Rasmussen
discusses this and other aspects of the speech in a new video.
The bottom line is that most voters, as they have in surveys for years
now, continue to feel that cutting taxes and reducing government
spending are best for the economy.
The need for deficit reduction also was a key part of the State of the
Union speech, but few voters (22%) expect the president to hit his goal
of cutting the deficit in half by the end of his first term.
After all, despite talk from congressional Republicans, most voters
(54%) still think Congress is unlikely to significantly reduce
government spending over the next year.
The new Congress, even with a Republican majority in the House, has a
ways to go to convince voters it’s not just as bad as the one that
ended in December. Just 10% rate the new Congress’ performance as
good or excellent. Forty-eight percent (48%) say the legislators are
doing a poor job. GOP voters remain the biggest critics, as Scott notes
in a video analysis.
Following the House’s recent repeal of the national health care law,
sending the issue on to the Senate, most voters continue to favor
repeal, but support has fallen to its lowest level since late
October. Fewer voters also now believe the law will force them to
change their existing health insurance coverage.
Republicans still hold a five-point lead over Democrats on the Generic
Congressional Ballot – 44% to 39%, but it’s their smallest lead since
the first week of December.
The president also argued strongly in his State of the Union speech for
a bipartisan effort to create jobs, but most Americans think the best
thing government can do is get out of the way. Sixty percent
(60%) of Adults think decisions made by U.S. business leaders to help
their own businesses grow will do more to help create jobs in America
than decisions made by government officials.
The overwhelming majority of Americans continue to know someone who is
out of work and looking for a job, but the number who believe
unemployment will be higher one year from now is at its lowest level in
over a year. Confidence in the current job market also has
reached a recent high.
As the end of the month approaches, the Rasmussen Consumer and Investor
Indexes are up very slightly from the first of the year.
It was a tie game, by the way, when we asked voters which they were
more interested in watching – the president’s State of the Union speech
or the upcoming Super Bowl.
Obama’s job approval ratings have been on the rise in the Rasmussen
Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll, and now voters show less
negativity toward both his leadership abilities and style.
Also, the number of voters who blame the president’s policies for the
country’s continuing economic problems versus the recession that began
under his predecessor George W. Bush is at its lowest level since early
October 2009.
So how’s the president’s 2012 opposition shaping up these days?
History tells us that primary polls are all about name recognition at
this early stage, and right now the best-known Republican hopefuls are
running ahead among likely party primary voters. Former
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney leads the pack with the support of
24%. Ex-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin runs second with 19%, closely
followed by Mike Huckabee with 17%.
While Palin remains a top favorite of Republican voters, she’s also the
front-runner they least want to see get the GOP’s 2012 presidential
nomination. One-in-three likely primary voters (33%), in fact,
feel that way.
So what if Romney, Palin, Huckabee and Newt Gingrich decide not to run
for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 or their campaigns
falter in the early going? Who will the GOP turn to? Former New York
City Mayor Rudy Giuliani emerges as the clear leader among a group of
eight other prominent Republicans whose names have been mentioned as
possible presidential candidates, with Tim Pawlenty, who recently
stepped down as governor of Minnesota, in second place.
Speaking of governors, more and more states are facing serious budget
shortfalls, but most voters nationwide (53%) continue to oppose federal
bailout funding for these states.
States are currently not allowed by law to file for bankruptcy, but
Gingrich, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and others have argued that
bankruptcy might be the least painful alternative for taxpayers in
heavily debt-ridden states like California, Illinois and New
York. Voters aren’t thrilled with the idea, but they like it
better than higher taxes. They’re even more supportive if told
government employees might have their pensions reduced in the process.
To get the full report, plus links... click here.
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