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Rasmussen...
What
They
Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls
Saturday,
August 04, 2012
The
frustration in America these days runs deep. Just 14% think today’s
children
will be better off than their parents. That’s the most pessimistic
assessment
ever and the number is even lower among those with children at home.
Worker’s
confidence in the jobs market has fallen to the lowest level of 2012.
Long-term
optimism about the economy is at the lowest level ever recorded. Just
40% believe
the U.S. economy will be stronger in FIVE years. That’s down from 62%
in
January 2009.
Consumer
confidence is bouncing along just above 2012 lows. Pessimism about the
recovery
of housing prices and the stock market remains at or near record highs.
President
Obama’s Job Approval also fell to the lowest level of 2012 this past
week. At
the same time, the number of people who consider themselves GOP
Republicans
also fell to a 2012 low.
The lack of
confidence in both political teams is highlighted by the fact that just
17% of
voters believe that Mitt Romney and President Obama are the best choice
for
running the government. Voters are evenly divided as to whether or not
the
election is simply a choice between the lesser of two evils. Americans
overwhelmingly
believe that most TV campaign ads this year are negative attacks. A
third (34%)
favor a ban on all political television advertising.
Rather than
seeing politics as the solution, “Americans have come to view the
government as
a burden that is weighing down the economy and the nation.” In his
weekly
newspaper column, Scott Rasmussen notes that “Too many politicians,
from both
political parties, believe the government’s job is to run the country.
A
healthier view is to recognize that our government was designed to play
a
support role rather than take the lead.” In his book, In Search of
Self-Governance, Scott wrote that “the American people do not want to
be
governed from the left, the right, or the center. They want to govern
themselves.”
Partly, this
attitude stems from the fact that 68% think there are too many
unnecessary laws
in the U.S.
Against
that backdrop, The Rasmussen Reports Senate Balance of Power ratings suggest that the
Republicans are
likely to end up with 48 Senate seats while the Democrats are likely to
have
47. Five races are pure Toss-Ups.
The GOP
should be nervous about the Indiana Senate race which remains a
Toss-Up. In
Missouri, Democratic Incumbent Claire McCaskill still trails several
Republican
challengers but has closed the gap. The Wisconsin Senate Race now leans
in
favor of the Democrats as the GOP candidates are fighting a bitter
primary
battle. Overall, on the Generic Congressional Ballot, Republicans
continue to
enjoy a modest advantage.
Looking to
the presidential race, Mitt Romney clings to a tiny lead for yet
another week
in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll. Currently,
Rasmussen
Reports is one of very few firms to be tracking the race among Likely
Voters.
Most others are currently polling Registered Voters and will switch to
the
Likely Voter format after Labor Day. When that happens, there will be a
shift
in the polling averages as most other polls will appear more favorable
to
Romney than they do at the moment. That’s because Registered Voter
polls
typically report more favorable results for Democrats.
The Crystal
Ball’s Kyle Kondik and Larry J. Sabato say that the “tight national
race has
frozen the Electoral College Map.”
The
Rasmussen Reports Electoral College Projections show Obama with a
slight
advantage at the moment. Romney leads, though, in new polling from
North
Carolina and Missouri. Voters are evenly divided as to whether Romney
or Obama
would be a better foreign policy leader. Voters are also evenly divided
as to
whether the president’s views are in the mainstream or extreme. 51%
consider
Romney’s views mainstream while 37% say extreme.
Read the
rest of the article with links at Rasmussen
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