Republicans Gain in Independent Voter Support
UTICA, New York - Republicans and Democrats are in a dead heat in a generic congressional ballot test according to the latest Zogby Interactive poll. The poll also finds President Barack Obama's approval rating at 46%; a one point increase over last week.
Previous polling from Sept. 27 showed Republicans with a five-point lead in the Congressional generic ballot question and Obama with an approval rating of 45%.
The most recent survey was conducted from Oct. 1-4.
In the Congressional race in 2010, for which party's candidate do you intend to vote - Democrat of Republican?
|
|
Oct. |
Sept. |
Sept. |
Sept. |
Aug. |
Aug. |
Aug. |
Aug. |
July |
July |
June |
|
Democrat |
43% |
41% |
44% |
41% |
41% |
41% |
41% |
38% |
40% |
41% |
41% |
|
Republican |
43% |
46% |
43% |
47% |
43% |
43% |
42% |
46% |
43% |
43% |
43% |
|
Neither |
3% |
4% |
4% |
3% |
5% |
3% |
3% |
3% |
3% |
3% |
3% |
|
Not sure |
11% |
10% |
10% |
10% |
12% |
13% |
13% |
13% |
13% |
13% |
13% |
Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
On the Congressional generic ballot, 44% of independent voters now say they will choose the Republican Congressional candidate while 29% will choose the Democrat. Additionally, 23% of independent voters are unsure which party they will vote for in November.
|
Obama Job Performance |
Oct. |
Sept. |
Sept. |
Sept. |
Aug. |
Aug. |
Aug. |
Aug. |
July |
July |
June |
June |
May |
Apr. |
Apr. |
|
Approve |
46% |
45% |
49% |
46% |
44% |
46% |
43% |
43% |
46% |
45% |
46% |
47% |
47% |
49% |
48% |
|
Disapprove |
53% |
54% |
51% |
54% |
56% |
53% |
56% |
57% |
53% |
54% |
53% |
53% |
53% |
51% |
52% |
|
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.
President Obama's approval dropped five percentage points among independents to 40%, while among, Democrats approval of the president hit 84%, up from 79% last week.
"Democrats have been working on shoring up their base and it may be working. But those gains cannot come at the expense of losing valuable independent votes," said John Zogby. "While Republicans have picked up some independents in our generic test, it is important to keep in mind their strong dissatisfaction with both parties. Our poll of independents last week for the Blue Dog Research Forum showed independents giving Congressional Democrats a 13 percent positive rating and Congressional Republicans only a 5 percent positive rating. This is still anybody's guess, it all hinges on turnout."
In other findings:
- 36% of likley voters say the nation is headed in the right direction, and 56% say it is headed in the wrongdirection.
- The job approval of Congress is 20%. Approval of Congressional Democrats' performance is 36%, and approval of Congressional Republicans is 24%.
The interactive poll consisted of 2,077 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.