Currently, voters trust Republicans and Democrats just about equally across a broad range of issues. These numbers have sometimes been better; there have been times when voters preferred the GOP almost across the board, and by bigger margins. But still, today’s Rasmussen survey is interesting:
The most important issues are the economy and jobs. Republicans hold the edge on both, 44/40 and 46/38, respectively. Along the same lines, Republicans are favored on taxes (44/39), government spending (47/34) and issues affecting small business (46/36). One could say, I should hope so! But still, those numbers are pretty good.
This is what I really want to highlight: the issues that Democrats have played on most heavily over the last year or so, and which some view as a mortal threat to the GOP, are doing little or nothing for the Dems. Specifically, the parties are tied on immigration (39/40), and Republicans lead slightly on gun control (43/41). Social Security, which the Democrats have been demagoguing for, what?–seventy-five years or more?–has come to rest dead even, at 40/41.
The Democrats lead on the traditional soft issues of the environment and education; those are areas where the Republicans should be able to make up ground with a little marketing. But what is most striking about these data is that the Democrats’ current scare campaigns over guns and immigration have made little impression on the voters.
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