Congressional Republicans' Approval Remains Lower Than That of Dems
UTICA, New York - With two weeks to go before the mid-term elections, Republicans are maintaining their lead over Democrats on the question of which party's candidate likely voters plan to vote for on Nov. 2.
The latest Zogby Interactive survey of 2,068 likely voters conducted from Oct. 15-18 has Republicans leading the Congressional generic ballot preference over Democrats, 48%-41% which is only a one-point improvement for Democrats from a similar poll taken Oct. 12-14.
President Barack Obama's approval rating also holds steady and is now 46%, up two percentage points from Oct. 14.
In the Congressional race in 2010, for which party's candidate do you intend to vote - Democrat of Republican?
|
Generic Ballot |
Oct. |
Oct. |
Oct. |
Oct. |
Sept. |
Sept. |
Sept. |
Aug. |
Aug. |
Aug. |
Aug. |
|
Republican |
48% |
49% |
45% |
43% |
46% |
43% |
47% |
43% |
43% |
42% |
46% |
|
Democrat |
41% |
40% |
45% |
43% |
41% |
44% |
41% |
41% |
41% |
41% |
38% |
|
Neither |
3% |
3% |
4% |
3% |
4% |
4% |
3% |
5% |
3% |
3% |
3% |
|
Not sure |
9% |
8% |
6% |
11% |
10% |
10% |
10% |
12% |
13% |
13% |
13% |
Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
In the quest for votes among party members, Republicans continue to outperform Democrats, with 90% of Republicans saying they will back the GOP candidate compared to 81% of Democrats who will vote for their party's candidate. Among independents, the Republicans maintain a big lead, 49%-29%.
Overall, do you approve or disapprove of Barack Obama's job as President?
|
Obama Job Performance |
Oct. |
Oct. |
Oct. |
Oct. |
Sept. |
Sept. |
Sept |
Aug. |
Aug. |
Aug. |
Aug. |
July |
July |
June |
June |
|
Approve |
46% |
44% |
49% |
46% |
45% |
49% |
46% |
44% |
46% |
43% |
43% |
46% |
45% |
46% |
47% |
|
Disapprove |
54% |
56% |
51% |
53% |
54% |
51% |
54% |
56% |
53% |
56% |
57% |
53% |
54% |
53% |
53% |
|
Not sure |
<1 |
<1% |
<1% |
1% |
<1% |
<1% |
<1% |
1% |
1% |
1% |
<1% |
1% |
1% |
<1% |
<1% |
Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
Majorities of both liberals (91%) and moderates (57%) approve of Obama's job performance, but 98% of conservatives disapprove.
In other findings:
- The overall job approval of Congress is 18%. Approval of Congressional Democrats' performance stayed at 34%, but approval of Congressional Republicans fell from 28% to 23%. While a majority of Democratic (67%) voters approve of their party's Congressional performance, 46% of Republicans approve of the job GOP representatives are doing. Both parties have very low approval from independents, with Democrats slightly better, 22% to 15%.
- 32% of likely voters say the nation is headed in the right direction, and 57% say it is headed in the wrong direction.
Pollster John Zogby: "Despite the best efforts of the President and First Lady to rally the new voters of 2008 and replicate that winning Obama coalition, neither is on the ballot this year. Obama's respectable approval numbers may not be enough to transfer over to Democratic Congressional candidates. Time is running short, but there is a ton of money being spent on ads by both sides that could still impact the results of the many close races."
The interactive poll consisted of 2,068 likely voters and has a margin of error of +/-2.2%. A sampling of Zogby International's online panel, which is representative of the adult population of the U.S., was invited to participate. Slight weights were added to region, party, age, race, religion, gender, and education to more accurately reflect the population.