Posted on 08/13/2008 12:37:00 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
Six out of 10 Americans (61%) say Congress should return to Washington immediately to vote on lifting the ban on offshore oil drilling, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. But voters overwhelmingly expect Congress to adjourn this year without taking action.
Even more (67%) recognize that Republicans are the ones pushing for offshore drilling, and 77% say the issue is important to them in terms of how they will vote for Congress this November. Forty-five percent (45%) of voters say it is Very Important. Voters see a clear difference between the political parties on this issue as 61% perceive that congressional Democrats oppose offshore drilling.
While their leaders in Congress oppose a vote on drilling, half of Democratic voters(48%) think the Democratic-led Congress should return right away to deal with it. Just 40% of Nancy Pelosi's party disagree. Seventy eight percent (78%) of Republicans and unaffiliated voters, by a two-to-one margin, believe Congress should return to vote immediately.
Overall, 30% of voters say Congress does not need to return right away.
In a separate survey released Monday, Rasmussen Reports found that 64% of Americans now support going ahead with offshore oil drilling.
The Democratic leadership, including the party’s expected presidential nominee, Barack Obama, has opposed offshore drilling largely for environmental reasons, but Obama began wavering on the issue in recent weeks when his own internal polling reportedly showed growing public support for drilling.
McCain’s position on offshore drilling is a key reason he has remained competitive in the presidential race.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi adjourned the House last month until early September rather than allow a vote on a energy bill that included lifting the offshore drilling ban, but congressional Republicans have been staging a public protestof her decision in Washington ever since. On Monday Pelosi reversed course and said she was willing to allow such a vote – in September.
Congress has been registering historically low approval ratings for months. Most recently in a survey conducted August 5, 50% of voters rated its performance as poor versus 10% who gave it good or excellent marks. In the same survey, 71% said members of Congress were more interested in helping their own careers than in helping the people they serve.
These views are perhaps reflected in the new survey when voters are asked whether they expect Congress to adjourn this year without okaying offshore drilling.Seventy-one percent (71%) say that is likely to happen, and only 16% disagree.Forty-two percent (42%) say it is Very Likely.
The Republicans have narrowed the gap with the Democrats to single digits in Rasmussen Reports’ latest Generic Congressional Ballot. The survey found this week that if given the choice, 45% of voters would choose their district’s Democratic candidate while 37% would choose theRepublican.
Male voters see a stronger need for Congress to return right away to vote on offshore drilling than women voters. Sixty-five percent (65%) of men believe it’s necessary versus 56% of women. Thirty-one percent (31%) of women say it’s not necessary, compared to 28% of men. But 70% percent of women and 73% of men agree that offshore drilling is important to how they will vote this year.
The same is true in virtually all income and age groups. By substantial percentages, the issue of offshore oil drilling is important to how Americans say they will vote, as high gas and oil prices and their impact on the overall economy have taken center stage in the political debate.
Similarly, by overwhelming percentages, voters in nearly all age and income groups believe Congress needs to return immediately to vote on the offshore drilling issue. Only those earning $100,00 or more a year are divided on the issue, with 42% opposed to Congress returning right away and 41% in favor of it.
In terms of the presidential election, 80% of likely McCain voters think Congress needs to return immediately, compared to 42% of potential Obama voters. Forty-eight percent (48%) of Obama voters – and 11% of McCain voters – say there’s no rush.
As for the relationship of offshore drilling to their upcoming votes for Congress, 89% of potential McCain voters rate the issue as important. But 65% of likely Obama voters feel that way, too.
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The Mod Squad has noticed the same thing... hmmmmmmm
It will make some people DIE like the elderly, whom are going to be forced to decide between prescription medications and heating fuel this winter...
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
If this were the 1st week of November........
AFAIK, It doesn’t work like that. The majority can add endless amendments.
If 61% of the public agrees with the House GOP position that Congress should return to DC to vote on offshore drilling, it would seem as if the Republican “brand” isn’t as out of favor this year as most pundits would have you believe.
The tide is turning, folks. Can someone please photo-shop together a “Handmaidens of Big Oil” victory dance picture?
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