What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Week Ending February 13, 2009
Ready or not, here they come.
Ready or not, here they come.
Forty-nine percent (49%) of U.S. voters trust their own judgment more than President Obama’s when it comes to the economic issues affecting the nation.
Senator Arlen Specter is one of only three Republicans to support the economic stimulus bill in Congress, and the latest Rasmussen Reports survey in Pennsylvania shows that his position is costing him support back home.
Thirty-seven percent (37%) of Massachusetts voters say terminally-ill Senator Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy should retire from the Senate, according to a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of voters in the state.
Sixty percent (60%) of U.S. voters say the economic stimulus plan that is emerging from Congress is mostly what Democrats want rather than a truly bipartisan product.
President Obama’s prime-time press conference and his campaign-style events this week have boosted support for the economic recovery plan working its way through Congress.
When it comes to the nation’s economic issues, 67% of U.S. voters have more confidence in their own judgment than they do in the average member of Congress.
The Senate is scheduled to vote today on an $838-billion economic stimulus plan, but 58% of U.S. voters say most members of Congress will not understand what is in the plan before they vote on it.
Fifty-seven percent (57%) of American adults say political donors get more than their money back in terms of favors from members of Congress.
Fifty-nine percent (59%) of American adults believe that when members of Congress meet with regulators and other government officials, they do so to help their friends and hurt their political opponents. In a solid display of agreement across party lines, a majority of Democrats, Republicans and those unaffiliated with either major party share this view.
With the Senate poised to vote Tuesday on an $827-billion version of the economic recovery plan, 62% of U.S. voters want the plan to include more tax cuts and less government spending.
President Obama last Thursday night stated his belief in the need for urgent action on the economic recovery bill working its way through Congress. “If we do not move swiftly … an economy that is already in crisis will be faced with catastrophe,” he declared. Obama repeated that sentiment in his nationwide radio address on Saturday.
President Obama is quickly learning that being president is harder than just talking about it.
Sixty-four percent (64%) of Illinois voters say that former Governor Rod Blagojevich received a fair impeachment trial in the Illinois Senate. A Rasmussen Reports telephone survey found that just 23% disagree and 13% are not sure.
More bad news for the media. Fifty-four percent (54%) of U.S. voters say the news media make global warming appear worse than it really is. Only 21% say the media present an accurate picture, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Republican Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell has a three-to-nine point lead against three hopefuls for the Democratic nomination in this year’s closely-watched Virginia gubernatorial contest.
The majority of Americans say most members of Congress don’t pay all the taxes they owe. In fact, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 15% are confident that their elected representatives do pay the taxes they levy on others.
Nearly one-out-of-four voters (23%) say it is at least somewhat likely that global warming will destroy human civilization within the next century. Five percent (5%) say it’s very likely.
Many U.S. voters still think the recent pattern of the White House alternating between the political parties will continue, but Barack Obama’s early popularity is dampening that belief somewhat.
Seventy-one percent (71%) of American voters now view President Obama as politically liberal, including 42% who say he is Very Liberal. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 23% see him as politically moderate and just 2% see him as somewhat or very conservative.