Poll shows Most Americans Want Incumbents Defeated

[raja]

Rasmussen poll -- excerpts

73% Agree That Washington Is “Broken”
Friday, February 19, 2010

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey

Seventy-three percent (73%) of U.S. voters agree with Vice President Joseph Biden that “Washington right now is broken.”

75% of all voters now say they are angry at the government’s current policies, up four points from late November and up nine points since September. Sixty percent (60%) think neither Republican political leaders nor Democratic political leaders have a good understanding of what is needed today.

Sixty-three percent (63%) believe, generally speaking, that it would be better for the country if most incumbents in Congress were defeated this November.

In his new book, In Search of Self-Governance, Scott Rasmussen observes that the American people are “united in the belief that our political system is broken, that politicians are corrupt, and that neither major political party has the answers.” He adds that “the gap between Americans who want to govern themselves and the politicians who want to rule over them may be as big today as the gap between the colonies and England during the 18th century.”

. . . most voters still don't approve of the government bailouts of the financial industry and troubled automakers General Motors and Chrysler.

The founding document of the United States, the Declaration of Independence, states that governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Today, however, just 21% of voters nationwide believe that the federal government enjoys the consent of the governed.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/publ...gton_is_broken

[Chomsky]

Re: Poll shows Most Americans Want Incumbents Defeated

Yeah, but how many of these people will actually vote?

[jiimbergin]

Re: Poll shows Most Americans Want Incumbents Defeated

Rasmussen has had a great polling history since at least 2004. Based on personal contacts I agree with his assessment, but how do we find and elect those who will really make any difference?

[Ghent12]

Re: Poll shows Most Americans Want Incumbents Defeated

Yeah, but how many of these people will actually vote?

If I'm not mistaken, Rasmussen only polls likely voters, and has a rather accurate determining processes for who is and is not a likely voter. Could be wrong though.

[flintlock]

Re: Poll shows Most Americans Want Incumbents Defeated

I'm a bit disgusted that only 73% found the government is broken.

[gordonbrown]

Re: Poll shows Most Americans Want Incumbents Defeated

I'm a bit disgusted that only 73% found the government is broken.

Oh, come along Flintlock! do promise me you will Buck up; the other 27% are, or work for, the Government!

fings can only get betterer

[Starving Steve]

Re: Poll shows Most Americans Want Incumbents Defeated

Yeah, but how many of these people will actually vote?

The church bunch in the South always show-up at the polls to vote, and that is the problem. They run the public schools too, and they sit on school boards. That is the problem: they are a very determined and politically-active bunch.

The gun-toters are another determined bunch, and they are allied with the church bunch in the red states, especially in the South.

One would have thought after decades of failed policy in Washington (and 150 years of failed-education policy) the Demos would have come to power with an plan for America, something beyond hope, beyond "buy American", beyond windmills and solar panels, beyond 2050 pages of gobbly-gook in a so-called health-reform bill, something beyond more inflation and zero-interest rates, and something beyond compounding deficits with more so-called, "stimulus-spending".

Both parties are out-of-touch with the majority of people in the country. And both parties are corrupt because the American system of permanent grid-lock (called check-and-balance) invites corruption. Bribes and pay-offs (called "pork") are the grease that keep this system going, apparently forever.

Get ready for Sarah Palin and her church bunch. They move back on-stage next.:rolleyes: "Welcome the first woman president," I can just hear it now. "Back-to-basics" in the schools, more tax-cuts for special interests, more for-profit healthcare, more deficits, and more "deficits don't count in a growing economy," per supply-side economics. (Who could forget Ronald Reagan, Arthur Laffer, Howard Jarvis, and Proposition 13 in 1978 in California?):rolleyes:

[Sharky]

Re: Poll shows Most Americans Want Incumbents Defeated

A slightly more recent Rasmussen poll says that only 21% believe the US Government has the consent of the governed:

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/publ...f_the_governed

The founding document of the United States, the Declaration of Independence, states that governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Today, however, just 21% of voters nationwide believe that the federal government enjoys the consent of the governed.

the other 27% are, or work for, the Government!

Rasmussen actually looked at this issue, too. They define something called the "Political Class," who are voters that tend to trust political leaders more than the public at large, and who are far less skeptical about government. Only 4% of voters now support the Political Class.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/publ...instream_views

One of my favorite quotes (since it applies to me):

“The American people don’t want to be governed from the left, the right or the center. The American people want to govern themselves," says Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports. “The American attachment to self-governance runs deep. It is one of our nation’s cherished core values and an important part of our cultural DNA.”

[Rajiv]

Re: Poll shows Most Americans Want Incumbents Defeated

The problem is that most people want incumbents OTHER than their own representatives out of office. That has been shown by poll after poll -- this is what gives incumbents their advantage. When it comes time to vote, people prefer their own incumbents over the challengers -- but they want other people to throw their incumbents out.

[phirang]

Re: Poll shows Most Americans Want Incumbents Defeated

Ah... the voting public... always a solid fade.