Free Republic

Voters are clearly dubious about the size and scope of today’s federal government. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 39% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the federal government currently operates within the limits established by the Constitution of the United States. Forty-four percent (44%) disagree and say it is not functioning within those limits, while another 17% aren’t sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.) Earlier surveys have shown that just one-in-five voters believe that the government today has the consent of the governed. Forty-eight percent (48%) see the government as a threat to individual...

They’re the leading contenders for now for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, and, perhaps not surprisingly, they’re the best liked of 14 top party players among likely GOP primary voters. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of those voters finds that 82% have a favorable opinion of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the party’s vice presidential nominee in 2008, while just 17% view her unfavorably. That includes 50% with a Very Favorable opinion and eight percent (8%) with a Very Unfavorable one. (To see survey questions wording, click here)

President Obama's Democratic party lost the midterm elections this week and he could very well lose his bid for a second term in 2012, according to a shocking poll released today. Obama would lose in a hypothetical race against former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee 52 percent to 44 percent, according to CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney would also defeat Obama 50 percent to 45 percent in the race for the White House in 2012.

Washington (CNN) -- His party got its clock cleaned in Tuesday's midterm elections, but President Barack Obama still remains competitive in some hypothetical 2012 presidential election matchups, especially against Sarah Palin, a new poll shows. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Thursday also indicates that at the unofficial start of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, the field of possible contenders appears wide open with no front-runner. Twenty-one percent of Republicans say they would most likely support 2008 GOP White House candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for their party's 2012 presidential nomination, according to the poll. The...

Hold the celebration. Most voters expected Republicans to win control of the House of Representatives on Election Day, but nearly as many expect to be disappointed with how they perform by the time the 2012 elections roll around. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds, in fact, that 59% of Likely U.S. Voters think it is at least somewhat likely that most voters will be disappointed with Republicans in Congress before the next national elections. That includes 38% who say it is Very Likely.

Most people who voted in Election 2010 on the East Coast think the average Democrat in Congress is more liberal than they are and describe the views of most congressional Democrats as extreme. These results come from a Rasmussen Reports telephone polling of people who have already voted in states in the Eastern Time Zone. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of these voters say the average Democrat in Congress is more liberal than they are. Only 10% say that member of Congress is more conservative, while 27% see his or her views as about the same as theirs. Fifty-five percent (55%) say...

Most voters say today’s election is a referendum on President Obama’s agenda and that he should change course if Republicans win control of the House. But most also don’t expect him to make that change. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 52% of Likely U.S. Voters believe this election is more a referendum on the president’s agenda than about individual candidates and issues. Thirty-eight percent (38%) disagree and say the candidates and issues are paramount. (To see survey question wording, click here.) Only 40% of voters think the president should continue to pursue the same agenda if...

Two days before the midterm elections, a new national poll indicates that Republicans have a 10-point lead over the Democrats in a crucial indicator in the battle for control of Congress. The GOP's 10 point advantage in the "generic ballot" question in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national survey released Sunday is slightly larger than the seven point advantage Republican candidates had on the eve of the 1994 midterms, when the party last took control of Congress from the Democrats. "But unlike 1994, when polls indicated the public had a positive view of the Republican party, a majority of Americans now...

GOP Likely to Recapture Control of House Pew Research Center’s final 2010 pre-election survey finds the Republican Party continuing to hold a solid lead in preferences for Tuesday’s midterm election. The poll, conducted Oct. 27-30 among 2,373 registered voters, including 1,809 voters considered the most likely to vote, shows that 48% of likely voters say they will vote for the Republican in their district, compared with 42% who favor the Democratic candidate. These results suggest little trend in voter opinion nationwide and they track results of a Pew Research Center poll conducted two weeks ago. That survey found the GOP...

PRINCETON, NJ -- The final USA Today/Gallup measure of Americans' voting intentions for Congress shows Republicans continuing to hold a substantial lead over Democrats among likely voters, a lead large enough to suggest that regardless of turnout, the Republicans will win more than the 40 seats needed to give them the majority in the U.S. House. The results are from Gallup's Oct. 28-31 survey of 1,539 likely voters. It finds 52% to 55% of likely voters preferring the Republican candidate and 40% to 42% for the Democratic candidate on the national generic ballot -- depending on turnout assumptions. Gallup's analysis...

Republican candidate Dan Maes now has just single-digit support, but Democrat John Hickenlooper still holds a slight lead over independent candidate Tom Tancredo in Colorado’s race for governor. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state shows Hickenlooper with a 47% to 42% lead over Tancredo, a former GOP congressman now running as the candidate of the American Constitution Party. Maes trails with five percent (5%) support. Six percent (6%) like some other candidate in the race, and one percent (1%) is undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) This is the best showing yet...

His favorable rating and re-elect figures are also at new lows PRINCETON, NJ -- Barack Obama averaged 44.7% job approval during the seventh quarter of his presidency. His average approval rating has declined each quarter since he took office, falling by more than two percentage points in the most recent quarter to establish a new low. Obama's decreased popularity is also evident in his favorable rating. For the first time, more Americans view the president unfavorably (50%) than favorably (47%), and his favorable rating is the lowest of his presidency. Since his inauguration, positive opinions of him have declined by...

 Hindsight is 20/20, but sometimes foresight is pretty clear, too. The Hill 2010 Midterm Election Poll, conducted over the past four weeks in 42 toss-up House districts, paints a clear picture of danger for Democrats.In those races, all but two of which are currently in Democratic hands, Republican challengers were found to be ahead in 31. The Dems still held the edge in seven, and four were tied. That 31, added to some 15 Dem seats that are so lost they weren’t even worth polling, would put the GOP pickup at 46 if voter sentiment does not change. But...

Despite President Obama’s weekend visit to the state to boost the candidacy of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Republican Sharron Angle remains slightly ahead in Nevada’s U.S. Senate race - for the fourth survey in a row. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Nevada finds Angle with 49% support to Reid’s 45%. Four percent (4%) like some other candidate in the race, and two percent (2%) remain undecided with one week until Election Day. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

A new Fox News poll in Kentucky shows Rand Paul with a solid seven point lead over Jack Conway (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 50% to 43%. Key finding: While Paul was viewed favorably by 48% of voters and unfavorably by 41% of voters, only 38% had a positive impression of Conway while 51% held an unfavorable view. A new Public Policy Polling survey shows independent vioters “have moved toward Rand Paul in droves over the last month and a half and as a result he’s built his lead in the Kentucky Senate race up to 13 points,” 53%...

The economic climate had never been worse, gold prices were skyrocketing, real unemployment had jumped to between 17 and 19 percent, and many of the unemployed were walking away from their newly built houses, unable to afford the mortgage. Banks were closing at a rapid rate, some 500 in the previous year. At the same time, over 15,000 companies followed the banks into failure. Europeans were dumping American stocks, looking for more stable investments for their assets. Government policy seemed to exacerbate the problems, and as the election neared, the Democrats, holding the majority of seats in the House, as...

Politico’s new poll reinforces the fact that momentum remains strong with fired-up Republicans, mainly because of fired-up independents.  The numbers look daunting for Democrats with just one week to go before Election Day, and in many places, past the time many have already voted.  And it’s not as though the Democrats didn’t have warnings that their massive expansion of government wouldn’t have dire consequences: Expressing deep dissatisfaction with President Obama’s policies and performance, independents have increasingly sided with conservatives in the belief that government grew too large, too fast under Obama—and that it can no longer be trusted. In the...

In October, Gallup is reporting three estimates of voter preferences for the midterm congressional elections, adding two turnout scenarios among likely voters to the registered voter preferences it has been publishing since March. Explore these measures alongside other key indicators relevant to the 2010 vote. Model GOP Dem Registered Voters 48 44 High Turnout 52 43 Low Turnout 55 41

President Obama is spending the next week crisscrossing the country in support of Democratic candidates before this year's midterm elections. While the president may do a great job of energizing the base, he may not be able to convert any Independents who have yet to decide for whom they will vote. Currently, two-thirds of Americans (67%) have a negative opinion of the job President Obama is doing while just over one-third (37%) have a positive opinion. This continues the president's downward trend and he is now at the lowest job approval rating of his presidency. These are some of the...

I got the following e-mail from the Tea Party Express and wondered if others had heard of a poll showing Christine this close. Stunning news to report today, fellow patriots. A brand new poll has Christine O'Donnell surging to within 6% of her Democrat challenger, Chris Coons. This late-in-the-campaign surge replicates her surge in the polls in the GOP primary, when everyone had written her off and said she could never win. She proved the so-called "experts" wrong before and she seems poised to do so again! With just 10 days left until Election Day, we would love nothing more...