Posted on 06/06/2007 6:13:11 AM PDT by new yorker 77
Arizona Senators Jon Kyl (R) and John McCain (R) have played key roles in negotiating and supporting the controversial immigration reform bill being debated in the U.S. Senate. However, Arizona voters are just as unhappy with the legislation as voters throughout the country.
Just 24% of Arizona voters favor passage of the bill while 50% are opposed. Nationally, figures released last week showed 26% in favor and 48% opposed. Rasmussen Reports will release updated poll results on the legislation Wednesday.
Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Arizona voters say that is Very Important for “the government to improve its enforcement of the borders and reduce illegal immigration.” However, just 14% believe the Senate bill will actually reduce illegal immigration.
Forty-two percent (42%) believe that if the bill is passed, illegal immigration will actually increase. That is very similar to the national reaction.
Just 22% of Arizona voters believe it is Very Important for “the government to legalize the status of illegal aliens already in the United States.” However, 60% would be willing to accept a compromise providing illegal aliens with a path to citizenship provided that it truly reduced levels of illegal immigration.
If Arizona voters had a chance to improve the legislation, 70% would like to “make changes to increase border security measures and reduce illegal immigration.” Just 22% would” make it easier for illegal immigrants to stay in the country and eventually become citizens.”
The debate has taken its toll on both Kyl and McCain. Kyl is still viewed favorably by 55% of Arizona voters. That’s little changed from his ratings before the election. However, the number with a Very Favorable opinion has fallen ten points to 26%. Last October, 36% had a Very Favorable opinion of Kyl.
The impact is even more noticeable on McCain who is now viewed favorably by just 47% of Arizona voters. Fifty-one percent (51%) have an unfavorable of their state’s Presidential hopeful. Just 15% now have a Very Favorable opinion of McCain while 22% have a Very Unfavorable view.
McCain was once considered the dominant frontrunner in the race for the White House. For most of 2007, he has been in second, trailing former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in the polls. However, McCain has slipped to fourth place in Rasmussen Reports polls since the immigration debate began.
The immigration debate has also taken its toll on President George W. Bush. During the Month of May, his national Job Approval ratings tumbled to the lowest levels ever measured by Rasmussen Reports.
Rasmussen Reports has recently released other state polling data on the Governor’s race in Kentucky and Presidential Match-ups in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
Nationally, polling data released last week showed that the number of Republicans in the United States has fallen to a new low. However, the number of Democrats has also slipped a bit since they gained control of Congress. Democrats have lost a little ground this month in the Generic Congressional Ballot, but still have a solid advantage over the GOP.
Rasmussen Reports regularly updates general election match-ups and other information for all Democratic and Republican Presidential candidates. Also available are favorability ratings for Members of Congress, Other Political Figures, and Journalists along with public attitudes towards Congress, and the War on Terror.
Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.
The Rasmussen Reports ElectionEdge™ Premium Service for Election 2008 offers the most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a Presidential election.
Rasmussen Reports’ Election 2006 coverage has been praised for its accuracy and reliability. Michael Barone, Senior Writer for U.S. News & World Report and co-author of The Almanac of American Politics, mentions, “One clear lesson from the Republican victory of 2004 and the Democratic victory of 2006 is that the best place to look for polls that are spot on is RasmussenReports.com." And University of Virginia Professor Larry Sabato states, “In election campaigns, I’ve learned to look for the Rasmussen results. In my experience, they are right on the money. There is no question Rasmussen produces some of the most accurate and reliable polls in the country today.”
Rasmussen Reports was also the nation's most accurate polling firm during the 2004 Presidential election and the only one to project both Bush and Kerry's vote total within half a percentage point of the actual outcome.
During both Election 2004 and Election 2006, RasmussenReports.com was the top-ranked public opinion research site on the web. We had twice as many visitors as our nearest competitor and nearly as many as all competitors combined.
Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade.
This national telephone survey of 500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports June 3, 2007. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. (see Methodology)
FYI
I’m surprised it’s as high as 24%. That must be the illegals they are polling! LOL!
“Hello, I’m Senator John Kyl - and I’ve got rocks in my head.”
“How about you?”
I can’t remember a political issue that made me feel as helpless, and as hopeless as I do right now.
The elites have decided they are going to go for amnesty. I doubt anyone believes it’s really good for America, but I do believe lots of elites think it’s good for them.
The people in power are going to screw Americans, and screw America for their own selfish reasons.
And anything you and I can do will be after the fact. It’s going to happen. Not only that, even Jorge has tapped into the PC machine in an attempt to silence opposition. Any after the fact opposition will be tagged as racism.
LOL......Senator Kyl, our best and brightest, snookered by Kennedy in less than a week.
It is perverted how those whom we trusted to look after the best interests of this country are betraying us.
Well we do have a LARGE Hispanic population here in AZ. Not too hard to find "Hispanic" voters eh, especially if you poll in Nogales and South Tucson.Wonder what the demographics of the poll were?
Most LEGAL Hispanics are not in favor of the amnesty bill unless they have relatives who are already here, or want to come here. They think it cheapens their citizenship, and weakens America.
I can tell you for a fact that the status quo isn't good for America. You and the majority can argue that Bush's plans were worse, but that's just opinion. Nobody know's for sure what it would have done. I, for one, agree with Bush.
I suspect that another 5 years will pass, and another 10 million illegals will completely convert California and Arizona into Mexican states before someone around here will finally get the clue that perhaps Bush really did have a good idea.
As Kay once said: "A person is smart. People are dumb".
There are a lot of emotional people who are being very dumb on this issue, and only time will educate them.
No, I take that back. We'll lose the SouthWest, but people will still believe that the border "could have been closed". Yeah. Right.
“No, I take that back. We’ll lose the SouthWest, but people will still believe that the border “could have been closed”. Yeah. Right.”
So when you have a leak in your plumbing, you fix the leak first and then turn off the water?
Or you are being even more defeatist than I am? You’re saying there’s no way anything can be done that will actually fix it, so you’ll accept Jorge’s amnesty?
Interesting. Since you are in one of the new Mexican states, you have more at stake in the short term than I do.
Experience tells me that this is correct. After 20 years of promises to "close the border", I no longer think it can be done with the leadership class that we have. Yes, it could *physically* be possible to close the border, with perhaps some leakage. But I have zero hope that it will ever be done.
The moderates of the country will not stand for the shrieks of anguish that will be the daily staple of media coverage should anything serious be done on the border. The moderates are the swing votes that determines which party gets power. With a plurality of Republicans that realize that fact, and the Democrats solidly behind open borders, there is nothing that will *ever* be done to fix the illegal problem via any type of enforcement only method.
Better to recognize reality and take the next best step, which is what "George" is doing.
My biggest surprise is only that so many conservatives, that until recently I believed had a solid grip on reality, don't get it. For the first time in 15 years I have returned to listening to music radio instead of talk radio. None of these guys get it. Even Democrat congressman Wiener made more sense than Bill O'Reilly last night. And O'Reilly supports Bush's plan, at least to an extent.
The Republicans are going to lose power over this issue, but not because of mexican voters as they claim. They're going to lose people like me who can look at 20 years of history and the political facts in Washington and recognize a hopeless cause when we see it.
*Something* needs to be done about the border issue *now*. But the result of the current conservative temper tantrum is that nothing will be done. As I said in my original post. We know for a fact the existing situation is intolerable. But it's only a guess about the future that says Bush's plan is worse. I voted for Bush, after I heard him call for a comprehensive fix on the border during his campaign in 2000. Bush does what he says he's going to do. Where were all the conservatives who oppose Bush now when he was promising to do this back in 2000?
I remember Bush talking about this in 2000. Are all these conservatives that clueless that they don't remember, or brainlessly forget under the onslaught of Limbaugh, Hannity, and other opposition? I'm beginning to believe that the liberals might just be right about the stupidity of conservatives after all. This is an eye opening event.
“I’m surprised it’s as high as 24%. That must be the illegals they are polling! LOL!”
-The 86 amnesty illegals.
-The Geraldo’s of America whom say (essentially), if you look like me, you probably think like me....that guys a moron.
-The socialists and misinformed.
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