Free Republic

Republicans have extended their lead in the generic Congressional ballot to their highest level of the year, according to the latest Rasmussen survey of likely voters. The overall Republican rating has not gone beyond their year-long high of 44%, but Democrats continue to decline. Only 37% would vote for a Democrat, giving the GOP a seven-point lead with a year to go before the midterms: Republican candidates have extended their lead over Democrats to seven points, their biggest lead since early September, in the latest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot. And the news gets even worse for Obama among...

Mounting evidence that independent voters have soured on the Democrats is prompting a debate among party officials about what rhetorical and substantive changes are needed to halt the damage. Following serious setbacks with independents in off-year elections earlier this month, White House officials attributed the defeats to local factors and said President Barack Obama sees no need to reposition his own image or the Democratic message. Since then, however, a flurry of new polls makes clear that Democrats are facing deeper problems with independents—the swing voters who swung dramatically toward the party in 2006 and 2008 but who now are...

Mounting evidence that independent voters have soured on the Democrats is prompting a debate among party officials about what rhetorical and substantive changes are needed to halt the damage. Following serious setbacks with independents in off-year elections earlier this month, White House officials attributed the defeats to local factors and said President Barack Obama sees no need to reposition his own image or the Democratic message. Since then, however, a flurry of new polls makes clear that Democrats are facing deeper problems with independents—the swing voters who swung dramatically toward the party in 2006 and 2008 but who now are...

A number of recent polls show the president would be wise to shift right. The announcement a week ago of 10.2% unemployment is a significant political event for President Barack Obama. It could well usher in a particularly serious crisis for his political standing, influence and ability to advance his agenda. Double-digit unemployment drove Ronald Reagan's disapproval ratings in October 1982 up to a record high 54%. It was only when unemployment dropped to 7.3%, roughly two years later, that he was able to win a landslide victory over Democratic challenger Walter Mondale in the 1984 presidential election.

Republicans Jump to Six-Point Lead on Generic Ballot Republican candidates have stretched their lead over Democrats to six points in the Generic Congressional Ballot. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 43% would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate while 37% would opt for his or her Democratic opponent. Republicans have held the lead for over four months now. Voters not affiliated with either party continue to heavily favor Republicans, 43% to 20%.

Democrats have some thinking to do after Tuesday's elections, but Republicans don't have time to think. They're too busy trying to survive the party's internal purge and avoid being shipped off to political Siberia. Will loyal members inform on others for harboring suspiciously moderate views? Will anyone judged guilty have to wear a sign saying "Republican In Name Only" as penance? Will there be re-education camps? Will deviationists face the Enhanced Interrogation Technique of being forced to listen to the wit and wisdom of Glenn Beck, at ear-splitting volume, for days on end? Or worse: When Sarah Palin's memoir, "Going...

Liberals and conservatives each have their own intellectual food chains. They have their own think tanks to provide arguments, politicians and pundits to amplify them, and news media outlets to deliver streams of prejudice-affirming stories. Independents, who are the largest group in the electorate, don’t have any of this... --snip-- The most telling races this year were the suburban rebellions across the country. For example, in Westchester and Nassau counties in New York, Republican candidates came from nowhere to defeat entrenched Democratic county officials. In blue Pennsylvania, the G.O.P. won six out of seven statewide offices... --snip-- The percentage of...

Though a majority of late-deciding New Jersey voters leaned toward incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine, it wasn't enough to save the Democrat from anger in a state battered by high taxes and scarred by government corruption. Tuesday: Chris Christie stands with wife Mary Pat Christie and children Bridgett and Patrick ahead of their voting in Mendham, N.J. (AP Photo) Exit polls showed independent voters that gave President Obama a huge advantage in the state last year strongly favored Republican Chris Christie on Tuesday. Though a majority of late-deciding New Jersey voters leaned toward incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine, it wasn't enough to...

The independent voters who powered President Obama and Democrats to victory in 2008 fled to Republicans in Tuesday's elections, helping the GOP romp to a ticketwide sweep in Virginia and a stunning victory over an incumbent Democratic governor in New Jersey. But the night wasn't a total loss for Democrats, as their candidate won a special election to fill an open congressional seat in upstate New York after a bitter civil war left Republicans divided between their party's nominee and a Conservative Party candidate. The seat had been in Republican hands for more than a century.

8:28 PM - Internal exit polls showing very good signs for Christie in NJ, most importantly Christie is running very strong independents. With indies breaking overwhelmingly for Christie, it could spell trouble for Democrat Corzine. It stands to note that the Democrats have a very strong coalition, so the sway of indie voters may not influence the as strong as it did in Virginia. However, CNN exit polls suggest that most voters - 38 percent - "said the quality they were looking for most in a candidate was the ability to bring change and most of them said they had...

Bob McDonnell leads Creigh Deeds 56-42 in PPP's final poll of the race. In a finding that may sum up what happened here 63% of voters in the state think McDonnell made a strong case for why he should be Governor while only 34% said the same of Deeds. Even 36% of Deeds' supporters said he hadn't made a good argument for why he should be elected. Beyond that the same themes that have shown throughout the general election show up in the last survey. 61% of McDonnell's voters are 'very excited' to vote on Tuesday while just 14% are...

'm writing about this for my USA Today column, but the Frank Rich hissy fit is a perfect example of the real story of the election. The story is not that the GOP is self-destructing, it is that the conventional wisdom is being shown to be ludicrous. For some time now Frank Rich, Sam Tanenhaus and countless others (including David Frum) have been arguing that the GOP is a rump party and the only way for it to survive is for it to embrace me-too Republicanism of one flavor or another. The story of all three major races (VA, NJ,...

The news is everywhere. Voters are realizing that the current Democratic/Republican party system is no longer responsive to the voice of “We the People.� In New York, third party candidate Doug Hoffman is now leading in the polls in the special congressional election. In New Jersey, Independent Candidate Chris Daggett is taking a big bite out of his Republican and Democratic opponents. The myth that an Independent candidate can’t win, a myth that is intentionally perpetuated by the two major parties, is being dispelled. In his farewell address, George Washington warned about the corrupting danger of political parties. His fears...

A poll of opinion polls shows that Americans are undergoing rapidly changing attitudes. RealClearPolitics, a national polling aggregator, shows that Americans are becoming less and less thrilled about the direction of the country and with the job Congress is doing. Support has been peeling off steadily, says RealClearPolitics executive editor Tom Bevan. The danger for the Obama administration and the Democrat Party is the independent voters' shift away from Democrat policies. “Independents have flipped negative,” warns Bevan, who mans the polls for a living. “That’s not a good thing for any party.” You need to look no further than the...

Registered Independents: did you know in most states the primaries are NOT open. You can't help get a conservative elected because the rinos in the republican party will vote for the liberal candidate. IF you really want to get a conservative in office get yourself re-registered as a Republican for the primary election in 2010 to get this job done. I know your are upset with the rinos that have been elected by the republican party, but we probably can't change the demographics unless you come back. In 2010 let's kick the crap out of RINOs! Info on open primaries-http://www.fairvote.org/?page=1801

Mass exodus from Independents continues, and the poll questions on Health Care will never make it on the news, because it's a disaster from Health Care Reform....(Charts)

The Star-Ledger today endorses independent candidate Chris Daggett and recommends his election as the next governor of New Jersey. The newspaper’s decision is less a rejection of Gov. Jon Corzine and Republican Chris Christie than a repudiation of the parties they represent, both of which have forfeited any claim to the trust and confidence of the people of New Jersey. They share responsibility for the state’s current plight. Only by breaking the hold of the Democratic and Republican mandarins on the governor’s office and putting a rein on their power will the state have any hope for the kind of...

The battle for control of Congress in 2010 is growing more competitive, a new Gallup Poll indicates. Roughly a year before the 2010 congressional elections, Republicans and Democrats are nearly tied among registered voters, who were asked which party’s candidate they would prefer in their congressional district, Gallup found. Some 46 percent said they would vote Democratic, versus 44 percent who favored a Republican candidate. The Democrats’ two-percentage-point lead in October is down from a six-point advantage in July. Independents shift to the GOP The Republican Party’s relatively strong position on the generic ballot, in which no candidate is mentioned...

Independent candidates are poised to run serious campaigns for governor in at least a half-dozen states, a development that threatens Democratic fortunes in some of the bluest and most progressive-minded states in the nation. In New Jersey, where Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine is seeking a second term in November, polls suggest an independent candidate is carving a sizable portion of voters out of his hide. In two other reliably Democratic states, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, well-known politicians running as independents could significantly undermine Democratic chances in 2010, if not flat-out win. Credible third-party candidates are also mulling over bids in...

September 24, 2009 (AP) Independent voters are turning away from President Obama and his fellow Democrats in droves. And if they can't find a way to get them back, the party could be in deep trouble for 2010 and beyond.Independents gave Obama the White House last year with a vote for pragmatic competence. They have been repaid with partisanship and dithering. And unlike liberals who Obama has quickly re-energized after their summer doldrums, independents are devilishly hard to win back once they lose faith.The latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, the Rolls-Royce of public surveys, showed that for the first...

Down down and down: For the first time, independent voters—who delivered Mr. Obama the White House and Democrats control of the Congress—disapprove of the job he is doing, 46% to the 41% who approve. In July, 49% of independents approved of the president, against 38% who disapproved. New doubts about the president have coincided with new hopes for Republicans, who appeared flattened by the election nearly a year ago. As the 2010 election cycle heats up, independent voters now favor Republican control of Congress by four percentage points. (Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net

An eight-point swing in just two months. This is not the centrist “pragmatist” they thought they knew. For the first time, independent voters—who delivered Mr. Obama the White House and Democrats control of the Congress—disapprove of the job he is doing, 46% to the 41% who approve. In July, 49% of independents approved of the president, against 38% who disapproved. New doubts about the president have coincided with new hopes for Republicans, who appeared flattened by the election nearly a year ago. As the 2010 election cycle heats up, independent voters now favor Republican control of Congress by four percentage...

Listening to two briefings -- one by a Democratic pollster who had just conducted a survey for a group favoring health care reform, the other by a Republican pollster more skeptical of the reform plans -- I felt as if I were hearing a pair of reports by the National Transportation Safety Board on the same plane crash. But in sorting through the problems facing President Obama and congressional Democrats, focusing too narrowly on their disastrous handling of health care would be a mistake. Obama and Capitol Hill leaders don't need to worry too much about their modest drop in...

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A majority of independent voters disapprove of how Barack Obama's handling his job as president, according to a new national poll. Fifty-three percent of independents questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday say they disapprove of how Obama's handling his duties in the White House, with 43 percent in approval. That result marks the first time in a CNN poll that a majority of independents give the president's performance a thumbs-down. Obama's overall approval rating of 53 percent is down 3 points from a month ago, and down 8 points from June. Forty-five percent of...

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A majority of independent voters disapprove of how Barack Obama's handling his job as president, according to a new national poll. Fifty-three percent of independents questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday say they disapprove of how Obama's handling his duties in the White House, with 43 percent in approval. That result marks the first time in a CNN poll that a majority of independents give the president's performance a thumbs-down.

Only 46% approve of the job Obama is doing-- a 19-point slide since Jan, according to today's Rasmussen poll.....his lowest level of approval yet. 53% disapprove of the job he's doing.......the push for an overhaul of health-care that includes a govt-run insurance program, has made voters increasingly disenchanted with Obama. The loss of confidence is more profound among highly valued independent voters......a whopping 66% disapprove of the job Obama is doing.............

I'll give it to you in one word: Independents. If House Democrats want to avoid losing 20 seats in 2010, they know they will have to fight and hold on to as many Independents as possible, period. Lose them and they will lose the House, it's just that simple, and they know it. Thus the creation here of late in the mainstream press of the local militia and Nazi memes. It's an old political trick. Fanaticize the right with a bogus militia scare, throw in a couple of swastikas and watch the Independents stream back into the fold. So get...

This is the first time this indicator has gone negative.

Ace says that’s not enough. Is it? Thirty-five percent (35%) of American voters say passage of the bill currently working its way through Congress would be better than not passing any health care reform legislation this year. However, a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that most voters (54%) say no health care reform passed by Congress this year would be the better option… Among those not affiliated with either major party, 23% would like the Congressional reform to pass while 66% would rather the legislators take no action.Voters who earn less than $20,000 a year are evenly divided...

Not surprisingly, there is a huge partisan divide on this issue. Sixty percent (60%) of Democrats say passing the legislation in Congress would be the best course of action. However, 80% of Republicans take the opposite view. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 23% would like the Congressional reform to pass while 66% would rather the legislators take no action.

Either indies have suddenly developed a taste for Nazi mobs of political terrorists or the Democrats’ message war on ObamaCare opponents is a rather epic fail. Given the left’s monopoly on wisdom and virtue, I must reluctantly conclude it’s the former. When did independents start hating America? In a survey of 1,000 adults taken Tuesday, 34% say the sometimes heated protests at sessions held by members of Congress have made them more sympathetic to the protesters’ views; 21% say they are less sympathetic. Independents by 2-1, 35%-16%, say they are more sympathetic to the protesters now. The findings are bad...

Protests at Town Halls Have Succeeded in Fueling Opposition Among AmericansThe raucous protests at congressional town hall meetings have succeeded in fueling opposition to proposed health care bills among some Americans, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds — particularly the independents who tend to be at the center of political debates. In a survey of 1,000 adults taken Tuesday, 34% say the sometimes heated protests at sessions held by members of Congress have made them more sympathetic to the protesters' views; 21% say they are less sympathetic. Independents by 2-1, 35%-16%, say they are more sympathetic to the protesters now. The...

Net approval: Down 15 points since June. Net who say they’d vote to reelect The One rather than vote for someone else: A measly +3, down 13 points. Number who say they’re confident the stimulus will turn the economy around: 39 percent, also down 13 points. And the number who say the country’s “seriously off on the wrong track”: 55 percent, up 13 points. Surely this trend is a function of miserable unemployment numbers, bound to reverse itself instantly once the economy starts cranking out jobs again, right? Hmmm: In the context of decreasing levels of confidence in the current...

We’ve already seen this trend coming from the Rasmussen national polls, and now Politico reports that Rasmussen has substantial corroboration of their reports. Independent voters have begun rejecting the big-spending programs of Barack Obama, especially as they show little return on the vast fortunes he’s spent thus far. That means trouble for Obama in swing states that he carried relatively easily just eight months ago: Obama retains extremely strong support from Democrats, and earlier this year lost much of the Republican support that followed a giddy Inauguration. It is the independents who appear to be currently on the move: Obama...

In a potentially alarming trend for the White House, independent voters are deserting President Barack Obama nationally and especially in key swing states, recent polls suggest. Obama’s job approval rating hit a — still healthy — low of 56 percent in the Gallup Poll on Wednesday. And pollsters are debating whether Obama’s expansive and expensive policy proposals or the ground-level realities of a still-faltering economy are driving the falling numbers. But a source of the shift appears to be independent voters, who seem to be responding to Republican complaints of excessive spending and government control. “This is a huge sea...

In a potentially alarming trend for the White House, independent voters are deserting President Barack Obama nationally and especially in key swing states, recent polls suggest.

Independent voters are the canaries in the coal mine of American politics, telling a leader whether the air is safe or starting to fill up with some toxic gases. Bearing that in mind, President Barack Obama and his team ought to start worrying about the health of those canaries. While the president remains broadly popular, his standing has eroded noticeably among political independents in recent weeks. That slide, among a set of citizens central to Mr. Obama's sizable victory in last year's election, means he has reached a politically hazardous juncture at the midpoint of his first, exceptionally hectic year....

Pollster John Zogby regularly updates our Obamameter. Each week, Zogby uses his polling, expert analysis, and interaction with major players to come up with a rating of between 1 and 100. Unlike his polls, the Obamameter is his judgment on the performance of the president once multiple factors are considered. In this week's Obamameter, Zogby says that the president was slowed by former Vice President Dick Cheney's rap on Guantánamo Bay policies and the right's concerns about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Also, he's facing troubles winning over independents. "It was just a fair to middling week for Obama. Cheney...

Voters who call themselves Republicans or Democrats are increasingly turning a deaf ear to each other as partisan views harden, making the growing ranks of independents key to any long-term political gain. Those independent voters, according to data from the Pew Research Center and the Gallup Organization, are becoming more socially liberal while dividing between liberalism and conservatism on the economy. Independent voters hue more closely to Democrats on whether government should regulate the free market economy, but they run closer to self-identified Republicans on matters of helping the needy even if it means going into more debt. Social issues,...

Conservatives are holding their own, while the ranks of independents have skyrocketed since November's presidential election, the latest Pew Research Center poll shows. The poll of 3,013 adults from March 31 to April 21 found that there had been "no consistent movement away from conservatism, nor a shift toward liberalism" since the election. Republican losses are slowing, the poll found, while Democrats have begun losing ground too. Thirty-nine percent of adults now call themselves independent. People identifying themselves as Democrats have slipped from 39 percent in December to 33 percent. 33 percent say they are conservative, up from 26 percent...

Poll Shows Surge Under Obama in Voters Calling Themselves 'Independent' Conservatives are holding their own, while the ranks of independents have skyrocketed since November's presidential election, the latest Pew Research Center poll shows. The poll of 3,013 adults from March 31 to April 21 found that there had been "no consistent movement away from conservatism, nor a shift toward liberalism" since the election. Republican losses are slowing, the poll found, while Democrats have begun losing ground too. And independent and unaffiliated voters are approaching record highs. The implications for the president, Congress and the political parties in the next election...

Conservatives are holding their own, while the ranks of independents have skyrocketed since November's presidential election, the latest Pew Research Center poll shows. The poll of 3,013 adults from March 31 to April 21 found that there had been "no consistent movement away from conservatism, nor a shift toward liberalism" since the election. Republican losses are slowing, the poll found, while Democrats have begun losing ground too. And independent and unaffiliated voters are approaching record highs. The implications for the president, Congress and the political parties in the next election could be profound. Among the results: * Thirty-nine percent of...

When Arlen Specter became the 21st senator to switch parties while in office, he did so with considerably more flash than one predecessor. "I basically tried to move about without notice," said former Sen. Harry F. Byrd Jr. of Virginia. Byrd, 94, switched from Democratic registration to independent in 1970. "Colleagues were cordial, but I did my best to avoid everyone." Specter, 79, had little chance of repeating that feat Tuesday. His announcement kicked off a national frenzy of news stories and speculation about what it might mean for Pennsylvania politics, President Obama's agenda, the balance of power in the...

A new Associated Press reveals only 17 percent of self-described political independents think America is “heading in the right direction” under Barack Obama. It seems higher taxes, higher spending, higher debt and nationalizing industry isn’t winning over independent voters. “The percentage of Americans who believe Elvis is or might still be alive is higher than that of political independents who think Obama has America heading in the right direction,” says Libertarian National Committee spokesman Donny Ferguson.

Big shifts among independent voters toward Democrats caused Republicans to lose the majority in Congress in 2006 and then shed even more seats in the House and Senate in 2008. Some argue these trends presage a permanent GOP congressional minority--or maybe even signal Republicans are on a path toward electoral extinction, the 21st century equivalent of the Whig Party. These predictions would hold more validity if the current trajectory of voting patterns continued. But some recent evidence suggests independent voters are shifting again, a trend that might help Republicans capitalize in 2010 on the minority party's historical advantages in off-year...

All voters O: 53 M: 44 Men O: 51 M: 45 Women O: 55 M: 43 Democrats O: 89 M: 9 Independents O: 48 M: 48 Republicans O: 12 M: 86

Barack Obama has taken a slight lead with white independent voters for the first time in the presidential race, positioning him to capture a key demographic group that has eluded recent Democratic nominees, according to a Politico analysis of independent voting patterns. According to Gallup’s weekly average of some 6,400 registered voters, Obama now holds a 45 percent-43 percent edge over Republican John McCain with white independents. About eight in 10 independents are white. Should Obama’s support hold, he is positioned to become the first Democrat to win white independents in a two-man race since the advent of exit polling....

DOVER, N.H. -- Sen. John McCain's campaign is testing the popularity of his running mate, Sarah Palin, in battleground territories of key states, a shift from her previous charge of rallying the base in conservative enclaves. Facing slippage in the polls, the Republican ticket has broadened the role of Gov. Palin. This week's schedule has the vice-presidential candidate in a pair of battleground areas of states targeted by the campaign, including independent-heavy New Hampshire and Democrat-leaning Maine. The campaign is banking on her "cross appeal," one Palin aide said. To be sure, her main focus remains traveling to heavily Republican...

---"...Perhaps the best news for McCain is the rating he received from independent voters. Among respondents not identified with either major political party, McCain was judged tonight’s winner, 51-42 percent...."---

The latest Gallup Poll has Barack Obama up by 9%. It is for the sixth day in a row that he has such a sizable lead.Instead of taking the numbers for granted I decided to have a look at the breakdown by party affiliation and ideology. The results were highly interesting, leading me to wonder just how it is possible that Gallup gave Obama such a tremendous lead. Here is the breakdown: Note the difference, especially, with “Pure Independents.� Unlike what the media have been telling us for weeks, Obama is not leading among this group of voters.I cannot help...