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Trusting (But Not Registering) Republican

Posted by JAZZ SHAW, Assistant Editor in Politics.
Oct 24th, 2009 | Comments

When I received my daily polling update from Rasmussen this weekend I’ll admit that I was in for a surprise. The polling agency went back to the well with their periodic series of questions as to which party Americans trust more on the top ten issues of the day. You wouldn’t be able to tell from a lot of the media circus we watch on a daily basis, but the Republicans actually ran the table.

For the first time in recent years, voters trust Republicans more than Democrats on all 10 key electoral issues regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports. The GOP holds double-digit advantages on five of them.

Republicans have nearly doubled their lead over Democrats on economic issues to 49% to 35%, after leading by eight points in September.

Here’s the breakdown by the numbers:

The economy
49% Republicans, 35% Democrats, 16% Not sure

National security and the War on Terror
54% Republicans, 31% Democrats, 15% Not sure

The war in Iraq
50% Republicans, 31% Democrats, 19% Not sure

Immigration
40% Republicans, 33% Democrats, 27% Not sure

Government ethics and corruption
33% Republicans, 29% Democrats, 38% Not sure

Taxes
50% Republicans, 35% Democrats, 15% Not sure

Health care
46% Republicans, 40% Democrats, 14% Not sure

Social Security
45% Republicans, 37% Democrats, 19% Not sure

Education
43% Republicans, 38% Democrats, 18% Not sure

Abortion
47% Republicans, 35% Democrats, 19% Not sure

This comes right on the heels of a related report indicated that the GOP has opened up a five point lead on the generic Congressional ballot. These sets of numbers are exactly upside down from the same studies done during the summer of 08, shortly before Democrats swept into the White House and an expanded majority in both house on the Hill. I’m not sure exactly what this portends with just over one year until the mid-term elections, but I’m betting there are a few nervous ticks showing up on faces at the DNC right now.

  • Don Quijote
    Yeah, they are cleaning the table until election time...

    Poll: Corzine Leads Christie By 42%-39%

    It looks like reminding voters of Republican Candidates previous association with G.W. Bush is the present that just keeps giving...

    Poll: Dem Leads In NY-23, Conservative Party's Hoffman Still In Third

    If Republicans are cleaning the table on issues, why is the number of Registered Republicans is at it's lowest point since the early 80's.
    The Republican Shrinkage Problem
  • Well, DQ, that's why I put "but not registering" in the title. It does seem odd. Of course, the two races you cited in your comment are obvious aberrations because of the 3rd party factor. Both should have been fairly close, but both would have gone to the Republican as little as two months ago. But the NY Conservative Party candidate in NY23 has eaten up a big piece of turf from Scozzafava and Chris Christie has been pulled down to slightly below Corzine's anemic numbers by his own third party thorn in the side. Neither of those are races where the 3rd party challenger is drawing significantly from the Democrat, and if you added them back in to the Republican's total, it's a clear win for the GOP. Absent a major change (one candidate leaving the race immediately or being found with a dead hooker / live boy-girl) nobody in either race will get anywhere near 50% in their victory.

    But it's true, GOP registration is at an all time low and the Democrats are only losing a little ground. The good news from all that is that independent, third party voters seem to be on the rise and will increasingly force the two major parties to heel if they want to win.
  • Davebo
    Can you say outlier
  • I'm sorry but who are these retards that are being polled? Those results must be skewed and it's nonsense that people's positions have changed that dramatically across the board in 10 months. Bullocks. Delusional polling there.
  • SteveK
    You've got that right Davebo, an outlier and then some. A Rasmussen Poll... as first heard first on Fox News.
  • Davebo
    A better question is who is asking the questions.
  • DaGoat
    Rasmussen consistently polls further to the right than other polls. Some of it is that they poll only likely voters but even so I don't have much confidence in their results.
  • casualobserver
    dagoat, then which is your confidence inspiring polling organization? fivethirtyeight, hardly a conservative backing website, concludes it is at the very top of polls for accuracy over the long haul.
  • shannonlee
    Reps left the WH with two unfinished wars and a failing economy. They have no national leadership and not many people in the pipe. Since becoming the minority, they have done nothing but offer the word No.

    Who are these idiots being polled?
  • imavettoo
  • Father_Time
    BWAAAAaaaahahahahaha......not sure.....

    .....gay rights......zip....nada.....lieder nicht...
  • Don Quijote
    Who are these idiots being polled?


    Fox Viewers.
  • Davebo
    dagoat, then which is your confidence inspiring polling organization? fivethirtyeight, hardly a conservative backing website, concludes it is at the very top of polls for accuracy over the long haul.


    Making stuff up now?
  • DaGoat
    dagoat, then which is your confidence inspiring polling organization?

    I don't have one, not because I think most pollsters are inherently biased but because polls have so many limitations, especially when you apply them to complex issues.

    Rasmussen seems to usually poll 5-10 points to the right of other major polls so I would take their findings with a larger grain of salt than I do the other polls. The RealClearPolitics poll averages probably give you good ballpark figures.
  • casualobserver
    Making stuff up now?
    http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/search/label/pol...

    apparently only in your liberal dreams

  • DaGoat
    My liberal dreams? I hope Kathy doesn't read that, her heart might not take it.

    I am not familiar with the fivethirtyeight site. I'd suggest you go the the RCP site, look at the numbers on the various polls and make your own judgments.
  • Davebo
    Apparently so. Your link.

    No posts match your query. Show all posts

    Better luck next time.
  • Leonidas
    Rasmussen seems to usually poll 5-10 points to the right of other major polls so I would take their findings with a larger grain of salt than I do the other polls.


    The main reason for this is they poll likely voters not the man on the street like most other polling agencies. The opinion of a non voter really doesn't hold much sway.
  • DaGoat
    The main reason for this is they poll likely voters not the man on the street like most other polling agencies. The opinion of a non voter really doesn't hold much sway.

    This is true when polling things that require a vote, like predicting election results. I'm not sure it holds when trying to gauge national opinion. In that case the opinion of a non-voter counts the same as a voter. You could make a good case it shouldn't be that way, but that's the way it is.
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