This info was of course before the Cheney shooting and the UAE port fiasco.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
By Dana Blanton
June 16, 2005
NEW YORK â The most recent FOX News poll shows that voters see Democrats as better at handling an array of key issues and gaining public trust on some areas traditionally considered Republican strengths. In addition, more voters think it would be better for the country if Democrats win control of Congress in this yearâs election.
The poll finds that by a margin of 42 percent to 34 percent Americans think it would be better if Democrats gain control of Congress this year. Todayâs 8-percentage point edge is down from an 11-point edge last month (10-11 Jan 2006).
As would be expected, most Democrats (81 percent) and Republicans (79 percent) want their respective parties to win control. Among independents: 32 percent back the Democrats and 18 percent the Republicans, with a 39 percent plurality saying âneither.â
Opinion Dynamics Corporation conducted the national telephone poll of 900 registered voters for FOX News on February 7-8.
âWhen we compare these results with those for the presidential races in the same poll, we see Americans seem to be expressing a desire for divided government,â comments Opinion Dynamics CEO John Gorman. ââChecks and balancesâ has been a catch phrase in the news in recent weeks and, consciously or unconsciously, the public seems to be leaning toward a Democratic congress to put the breaks on some of the Bush administration policies. If Democrats can nationalize this theme, they have excellent chances in 2006.â
The new poll finds that Democrats have increased their support on several issues, though only claiming the backing of a majority on the single issue of health care. Voters favor Democrats by 23 points as the party that would do a better job on health care, by 20 points on Social Security and 17 points on education â results that may not be all that surprising as these are typically considered âDemocratâ issues.
However, Democrats are now seen as the party that would do a better job on taxes (+ 5 points), and voters are about equally likely to pick Democrats on handling Iraq â issues that are traditionally thought of as being in the Republican column. Today, Republicans hold a 2-percentage point advantage on Iraq, down from a 14-point advantage two years ago and 32 points in 2003.
