63% Say Better for Country If Most of Congress Not Reelected

We have a majority for the Challenging candidate whoever they may be - well not quite yet.  These very same voters have to maintain this view point through the 2010 Election cycle which may see more corporate contributions and astroturfing than any election in history.

 

63% Say Better for Country If Most of Congress Not Reelected

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

 

 

 

 

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Most voters think the country would be better off if the majority of the current Congress wasn’t reelected this November, and their confidence in their own congressman continues to fall.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 63% of likely voters believe, generally speaking, that it would be better for the country if most incumbents in Congress were defeated this November.
Just 19% disagree and say it would be better if most congressional incumbents were reelected. Another 18% aren’t sure.
The Political Class strongly rejects these views, however. While 78% of Mainstream voters say it would be better for the country if most of the current Congress was turned out of office, 89% of the Political Class think it would be better if most were reelected.
The number of voters nationwide (61%) who give Congress a poor job performance rating is now at its highest level in more than three years. More voters also think most members of Congress are corrupt.
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Only 38% of all voters say their local representative in Congress deserves to be reelected, regardless of how Congress is doing overall. Thirty nine percent (39%) say their representative does not deserve reelection. Twenty-three percent (23%) are undecided.
In November, voters were also evenly divided on this question: 42% said their congressman should be reelected, and 42% disagreed.
But then just 27% of voters say their representative in Congress is the best possible person for the job, down six points from late November. Forty-four percent (44%) say their congressional representative is not the best person for the job, and 29% more are not sure.
The latest numbers are explained in part by new findings that show voters are madder than ever at the current policies of the federal government. Part of the frustration is likely due to the belief of 60% of voters that neither Republican political leaders nor Democratic political leaders have a good understanding of what is needed today.
Sixty-nine percent (69%) of men say it would be better for the country if most congressional incumbents were defeated in November, compared to 57% of women. Male voters also feel more strongly than female voters that their local representative is not the best person for the job and does not deserve to be reelected.
Eighty-two percent (82%) of Republicans and 74% of voters not affiliated with either major party believe an electoral loss by most congressional incumbents would be better for the country. Perhaps it’s no surprise with Democrats in control of both houses of Congress that Democratic voters are narrowly divided on the question.
While nearly half (48%) of GOP voters believe their representative in Congress is not the best possible person for the job, Republicans are evenly divided when asked if their local representative deserves reelection. Democrats are closely divided over whether their congressman is the best for the job but tend to think they deserve to be reelected.
Pluralities of unaffiliated voters feel their congressional representative is the best one for the post and deserves another term in office.
Roughly 60% of the Political Class believe their congressman is the best person for the job and deserves reelection. Among Mainstream voters, 50% don’t believe they have the best person representing them in Congress, but they have more mixed feelings about whether that person should be reelected.
In a three-way congressional contest with a Tea Party candidate on the ballot, the Democrat earns 36% support. The GOP candidate comes in second with 25% of the vote, while the Tea Party candidate picks up 17%. In early December, the Tea Party candidate came in second, and the Republican finished third.
Congress hasn’t helped itself with most voters by passing a controversial economic stimulus plan and unpopular bailout plans for the financial industry, General Motors and Chrysler. The health care plan now stalled in Congress has long been opposed by most voters.
With the national unemployment rate still near 10 percent, most voters think cutting taxes is a better way to create jobs than increasing government spending, but 72% expect President Obama and the Congress to increase spending instead.