As we’ve noted many times, voters have deep-seated reservations about the Democrats’ current spending spree. Pretty much everything the Democrats have done since Obama’s inauguration has been unpopular: the various bailouts, the pork bill, the current $3.7 trillion budget. We’re now seeing that dissatisfaction reflected in the generic Congressional ballot.
As reported by Scott Rasmussen, the Republicans have narrowed the gap to only two percent, 41-39. And this is before voters have actually experienced the ill effects of the Democrats’ far-left policies.
It’s interesting that Republicans lag Democrats much worse in party identification than on the generic Congressional ballot. Intuitively, I would think the two questions should nearly always get the same answer. Two possible explanations come to mind: media bashing of Republicans continues apace, perhaps to the point where poll respondents are reluctant to describe themselves as Republicans, and lots of Americans believe in divided government. By 2010, after two years of unchecked Democratic rule, that latter factor could give Republicans a big boost.
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