Posted on 11/13/2009 12:44:05 PM PST by South40
One year out from midterm elections, anti-incumbent sentiment is approaching its highest level in two decades, according to a poll released Wednesday by Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
The survey found that 53 percent of Americans said most members of Congress should not be reelected, compared with just 34 percent who said most members should be reelected.
Fifty-two percent would like to see their own representatives reelected in 2010, while 29 percent want them out of office, according the Pew poll.
The last time voter sentiment was this negative was during the 2006 and 1994 election cycles years in which the party in power suffered huge losses in midterm elections. In June 2006, 57 percent did not want to see most representatives reelected, while 29 percent wanted to see them stay in office. In October 1994, 56 percent of voters said they would not like to see most members of Congress reelected, while 28 percent would.
When you have this anti-incumbent sentiment, it doesnt typically reverse, said Carroll Doherty, the associate director of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
While President Obamas 51 percent job approval rating has remained relatively static, fluctuating between 51 percent and 55 percent since July, Doherty noted that, the publics overall attitude about Congress has grown sharply more negative over the year.
That anti-incumbent sentiment was prevalent among independents. Only 42 percent of independent voters wanted to see their own representative reelected, while 41 percent did not. And 67 percent do not want to see most members of Congress keep their seats, compared with 25 percent who said they would like most members reelected. Both measures are close to all-time lows in two decades of Pew surveys.
Looking at the overall picture of Congress, Doherty said, independents view is comparable to Republicans, the party out of power. Among Republicans, 70 percent did not want to see most members of Congress keep their seats.
Independents have taken a much more negative view of Congress than they did earlier this year, said Doherty.
Despite that trendline, overall voter preferences havent changed much since the summer. Today, 47 percent of voters said they would vote for a Democratic candidate or lean Democratic in 2010, and 42 percent said they would vote for a Republican or lean toward a GOP candidate. In August, 45 percent favored a Democrat, while 44 percent favored a Republican.
Republicans, however, appear to be far more energized to vote than Democrats. Fifty-eight percent of those planning to vote for a Republican next year say they are very enthusiastic about voting, compared with 42 percent of those planning to vote for a Democrat.
Of independents who support a Republican candidate in their congressional district, 56 percent are very enthusiastic about voting. But only 32 percent of Independents supporting a Democrat express that level of enthusiasm.
The Pew poll came on the same day that Gallup reported Republicans now lead Democrats by 48 percent to 44 percent on a "generic" congressional ballot for the 2010 House elections. Republicans trailed Democrats by 6 points in July and 2 points last month.
The poll interviewed 2,000 registered voters from Oct. 28 to Nov. 8.
This is exactly how they spun it in `94.
Yeah, it’s not “anti-democRat”, it’s “anti-encumbent”...
Who’s the “encumbent” party in power now?
Half of 0bama voters couldn’t answer that correctly.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus
We The People aim to clean the sewer that is this Administration, Socialist Czars, and the US Congress. Treason is all around us; they’re destroying our country and trying to take our freedom. Vote them out in 2010 and finish cleaning in 2012.
The Socialist Democrat leftists in Congress know that their days in the majority are numbered, hence their unprecedented headlong rush into so much radical legislation. They’ve got to get their whole 40 year wish list passed before they’re gone.
And - if they’re truly successful (they think), they’ll be able to remain in power using a multitude of subversions of our legal processes.
Half of Obama voters probably couldn't eat with a fork without putting out an eye.
The leftist agenda relies on the stupid...without them, they'd be toast.
Term limits would solve this problem.
Fifty-two percent would like to see their own representatives reelected in 2010, while 29 percent want them out of office, according the Pew poll.
There's your problem right there.
And that is the problem right there. People want all incumbents thrown out....except theirs. Since the only one they vote for is theirs, that is the only poll that matters.
Just imagine the "standard democRat demographic" without their gov't checks...
and prepare accordingly. It's coming.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus
I can’t wait to see the polling data in the next weeks with Obama’s decision to bring the detaines to America for trail and then announcing on the same day a plan for amnesty for illegals! IMHO 2010 might end up being worse for Dems than 1994 was!
This survey doesn’t give nearly enough information. Remember congressional elections are a district by district. So a national survey doesn’t provide enough granularity. In Oklahoma, a Republican voting state, our Republican congressman would probably poll at 65% to 70% for re-election. In Nancy Pelosi’s district she would probably get close to the same.
The control of congress will rest with what happens at the margin. The poll does not tell us in how many districts the people want their incumbent out. They have spread the data out like butter on toast and it tells us nothing.
Gingrich and company at least tried in 1995. It took a two thirds vote to enact term limits so even if every Republican had voted in favor, it still would not have passed.
They take some grief for promising term limits and not delivering but the contract only said they would bring it up for a vote, and they did. Sadly it didn’t make it. A large majority of Republicans voted for it at least. But I suppose there was never a realistic chance it would pass.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus
You lie, Pew.
It might be appealing to see large numbers of incumbents voted out, but there are congressional districts where even a nuclear bomb could not dislodge the incumbent and most of these districts encompass inner city populations. These incumbents would an absolute lock on many leadership positions.
Nancy Pelooser sums that up perfectly. She's arguably the worst leader in congress and one of the worst congresscritters to ever hold a seat in congress. Even so, the liberal wackjobs in San Francisco would never vote her out.
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