Who are you going to trust?
The Logical Husband sent me a link to this USA Today Story. Based on the headline:
"Poll favors Democrats in fall elections"
you would think that the numbers were bad for Republicans, but the further you read into the story, the more you are unsure of that. Among the findings:
• Voters are interested in the election at levels not usually seen in non-presidential years. More than a third have thought "quite a lot" about the congressional elections. Seven of 10 say they are very motivated to get out and vote this year. (this is good news all around)
• Democrats are particularly engaged: 56% of Democrats say they are "more enthusiastic about voting than usual," the highest level of enthusiasm since the question was first asked in 1994. In comparison, 43% of Republicans say they are more enthusiastic than usual. (sadly this is not surprising)
• Americans are increasingly likely to identify themselves as Democrats. Including those who "lean" to one party or the other, 55% call themselves Democrats, 38% Republicans — the biggest edge for Democrats since 1998. By 54%-38%, those surveyed say they'd vote for the Democratic congressional candidate over the Republican one in their district if the election was held today.
• That said, voters aren't particularly enamored of Democratic officeholders. Congressional Democrats have an approval rating of just 38%, one percentage point above Bush and five above congressional Republicans. A 54% majority of those polled say they would like to see a third major political party.
• Democrats are preferred by double digits over Republicans to handle four of the five top issues: Iraq, government corruption, the economy and health care. Republicans are preferred by 11 percentage points on handling terrorism.
• By 50% to 39%, those surveyed say most members of Congress don't deserve re-election. When it comes to their own representative, however, 61% say he or she does deserve re-election. That disparity isn't unusual, and it doesn't provide any guarantees for incumbents. In the summer of 1994, for instance, 60% said their own representative deserved re-election. That percentage had dropped to 53% by the November elections that swept many Democrats out of office.
The last paragraph does not bode well for Democrats who are currenly the minority party. Is this a case of media "bias"? I don' know if I would take it that far, but I would say tha (at a minimum) this was a case of misleading packaging of a product. This didn't really tell us anything new...all it really tells us is that the country is still really divided on who they think will do a better job running the country...something we have known since the 2000 Presidential election.
"Poll favors Democrats in fall elections"
you would think that the numbers were bad for Republicans, but the further you read into the story, the more you are unsure of that. Among the findings:
• Voters are interested in the election at levels not usually seen in non-presidential years. More than a third have thought "quite a lot" about the congressional elections. Seven of 10 say they are very motivated to get out and vote this year. (this is good news all around)
• Democrats are particularly engaged: 56% of Democrats say they are "more enthusiastic about voting than usual," the highest level of enthusiasm since the question was first asked in 1994. In comparison, 43% of Republicans say they are more enthusiastic than usual. (sadly this is not surprising)
• Americans are increasingly likely to identify themselves as Democrats. Including those who "lean" to one party or the other, 55% call themselves Democrats, 38% Republicans — the biggest edge for Democrats since 1998. By 54%-38%, those surveyed say they'd vote for the Democratic congressional candidate over the Republican one in their district if the election was held today.
• That said, voters aren't particularly enamored of Democratic officeholders. Congressional Democrats have an approval rating of just 38%, one percentage point above Bush and five above congressional Republicans. A 54% majority of those polled say they would like to see a third major political party.
• Democrats are preferred by double digits over Republicans to handle four of the five top issues: Iraq, government corruption, the economy and health care. Republicans are preferred by 11 percentage points on handling terrorism.
• By 50% to 39%, those surveyed say most members of Congress don't deserve re-election. When it comes to their own representative, however, 61% say he or she does deserve re-election. That disparity isn't unusual, and it doesn't provide any guarantees for incumbents. In the summer of 1994, for instance, 60% said their own representative deserved re-election. That percentage had dropped to 53% by the November elections that swept many Democrats out of office.
The last paragraph does not bode well for Democrats who are currenly the minority party. Is this a case of media "bias"? I don' know if I would take it that far, but I would say tha (at a minimum) this was a case of misleading packaging of a product. This didn't really tell us anything new...all it really tells us is that the country is still really divided on who they think will do a better job running the country...something we have known since the 2000 Presidential election.
posted by The Lady Logician at
5:32 PM
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