U.S. Democrats Lead GOP by Five Points for 2006

[Judi Lynn]

October 6, 2005
U.S. Democrats Lead GOP by Five Points for 2006

(Angus Reid Global Scan) – American adults have put the Democratic Party ahead before the next congressional ballot in the United States, according to a poll by Princeton Survey Research Associates published in Newsweek. 47 per cent of respondents would vote for Democratic contenders, while 42 per cent would support Republican candidates.

Eleven per cent of respondents are either undecided or would back other candidates. Support for the Democrats fell by three points since early September, while backing for the Republicans increased by four points. American voters will renew the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate in November 2006.

In the November 2004 congressional ballot, the Republican Party elected 232 lawmakers to the U.S. House of Representatives, while the Democratic Party secured 202 seats. The Republicans also have a majority in the Senate, with 55 members in the 100-seat upper house. 56 per cent of respondents disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job, a two-point increase in three weeks.
(snip/...)

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/9266

[fasttense]

1. It is still very close. Just enough difference so when the repukes

rig the election they can say it was the Dixiecrat vote or the anti-war Amish vote that won the election.

[yurbud]

28. yep--and DLC types will swallow

[dusty64]

2. Unreal.

:shrug:

[Blaq Dem]

3. You know the GOP will have another one of bin Laden's terror-grams stashed

At the last minute before elections, they'll just scare voters to death like they did in 2004. Watch.

[still_one]

4. pathetic

after everything that bush and company has done, it is still too close to call

this country is composed of morans who are destroying the country

[jackbourassa]

11. STOP BLAMING THE PEOPLE and focus on Democrats in DC

This is their fault. They don't do anything. We just sit around waiting for the Republicans to self-destruct. We need strategies. We need issues. We need to stop being afraid of our own members.

[nvliberal]

26. Time to trash the Democrats, I see.

Yes, it IS the people--IF you believe the polls, which I don't--who are so dense they would support Republicans regardless of their numerous scandals, whoring for corporations and the wealthy elite, etc.

I don't trust that poll as far as I can throw it. November 2006 is a LONG time from now, and YOU know, and I know, we will lose seats in both Houses, thanks to the machines.

[OzarkDem]

27. Not at all, just putting some pressure on them

Blaming the voters is a cop-out. If voters are that uninformed about Dems the only alternative is to spend some time and effort to educate them, and not at the last minute.

[reprobate]

29. Spot on Jack! If the opposition party won't oppose anything, how can we..

...expect the people to think any different. IMHO it's the DLC and their influence that has hobbled the party for far too long. Without that influence the BFEE would not have been placed in power in the first place. Of course you can add to that the influence of the media, but even that would not have been enough had the democrats just stood up and spoke the truth that they felt. Everyone has been afraid to say what they really mean, following the advice of campaign advisors and poll takers and focus groups. Damnit! Enough of that shit.

If they'd just stand up and speak the truth the people would follow.

[crispini]

5. Why do people pay one shred of attention to polls this early?

A whole lot can happen in a year.

Now, what I'M interested in is the information -- I read it here on DU somewhere -- that the GOP is having problems recruiting good candidates for 2006.

Right NOW is prime candidate recruitment time. Actually, if you're running in 2006, you should be working on your campaign NOW, especially if you have a primary opponent.

[katsy]

6. That "40%" number is really making me crazy.

What the hell is with this 40%... 4 out of 10 voters?!?!?!? How much abuse can these people take? Who are they?

There are more registered Democrats than gop... we just have to get our people to the polls.

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[durablend]

19. Unfortunately, a LOT of that 40% have the attitude

That they'd vote for a serial ax murdering rapist as long as he doesn't have a (D) next to his name.

[katsy]

21. I was secretly hoping...

someone would tell me that they only conduct polls in texas or alabama or only call on poor people making over half a mil per year that need their tax cuts desperately. Unfortunately, I'm afraid you're right.

[yellowcanine]

7. Generic ballot has little meaning. We have to fight these races one at

a time. Recruit good candidates and support them and then make the comparisons. Target the races where there is the most opportunity for gains or the most to lose. Tie at-risk pubbies to the failed administration policies.

[Orangepeel]

12. exactly. the way districts are drawn, incumbants generally win

[shavedape]

8. can you say MAJORITY

yeah, i knew you could do it!

[Arkana]

9. We should be leading by more than that.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

10. Think how much better we'd do with a coherent message

That's the point Jon Stewart was making to John Edwards the other night. Edwards agreed wholeheartedly, but didn't say what he thought the message should be.

The people are crying out for leadership from the Democratic Party, and all they're getting is timid criticism of *'s policies. Let's take a clear stand on issues, and let the public decide who to follow. We have got to take a stand -- Out of Iraq NOW!; Eliminate the top 1% tax breaks NOW!; protect the rights of unions; protect the rights of the public to bring legal actions without restrictions; eliminate patronage and cronyism from government and restore the professional Civil Service System; restore the environmental regulations Bushco has eviscerated; strengthen the V.A.

We need to reclaim our right to the Flag, supporting the troops, moral values, the Bill of Rights, the right to dissent without getting gassed, etc. We need to campaign on reviewing and restricting the PATRIOT Act. We need to campaign on restricting outsourcing, severely restricting "no-bid" contracts, restoring environmental regulations to polluters.

We need to scream at the top of our lungs, "TORTURE IS WRONG AND OUR NATION REFUSES TO ENGAGE IN IT IN ANY FORM!!!"

We've got to stop referring to our country as a "Homeland" and go back to "nation". We've got to restore the total separation of church and state.

The problem is how to summarize all this in a few catch phrases, like the Right does -- "liberal media", "Bush-haters", "judicial activism","family values."

We have got to say, "We're taking away George Bush's credit card -- he's gone way past his limit!" They talk about the "death tax"; we talk about the "debt tax."

We have to say what we stand for, and we have to say it over and over and over again. No matter what the Right wants to talk about, we ignore them and return to our message: the Democratic Party is the party which protects the poor and middle class against the greed and hatred of the Republicans. We are the party of building up, they are the party of tearing down. We will help you in time of crisis, the Republicans will let you die. They have Hillary, we have Halliburton.

The public wants leadership -- a clear voice in opposition to * and his insanity. If our party doesn't seize this opportunity to ACT and regain control of the Congress, well...the consequences are too terrible to contemplate.

[Demeter]

13. It's Not Enough, Folks

The lead will have to grow in the next year to 30% for us to even have a chance of defeating the election fraud.

And I agree 100% with item posted above mine!

[CoolOnion]

14. Good lord, why is it still so close?

I'm surprised GOP poll numbers are still in double digits. What's the matter with people?

[SoCalDem]

16. It benefits the media when the races are "close"

Media always likes a "horserace". They even CALL our elections a horserace:grr:..

No matter how far apart, races are always talked about as "closing the gap".."getting closer"..."neck and neck"...Tune in folks, for the latest details..

the closer the election looms, the more they will portray it as close.. Who tunes in when there's a landslide?? It's Ho-hum, nothing to see here..

Look at Georgia '02.. Those races were not all that close according to the lead up polls, but gee whiz..right before the election (the weekend before and the day before "there was "tremendous movement"..and whaddayahknow? every dem was defeated by a "hair" and every losing republican "inched" his/her way to the top of the heap.

The press missed the big story, but that would have required them to stick their necks out and report on all the "oddities".. By then the "winners" had been declared, and no one wanted to piss off the very people they would have top ask interviews of for at least a few years, so they all let it drop,..

[natrat]

15. nothing a little facist vote fixing cant correct

[ticapnews]

17. National polls are meaningless

House and Senate races are district-by-district. If we have 10 Dems win by 20 points and 30 lose by 1 point, the overall poll numbers show us winning in a landslide, but that's just not reality.

It is encouraging that people seem to be turning to the Democrats but the only poll that means anything is within a district. Not to mention we are 13 months away from the election and anything can happen between now and then....

[truthisfreedom]

18. bwahahaa. the pukes have plenty of time to go down, down, down.

we're doing well right now, and we need to do even better.

[Tiggeroshii]

20. Just wait until Bush fires Fitz

It'll come after indicments and the gop will be ruined from it. Hopefully. :shrug:

[geniph]

22. We have issues, we have a platform

We are just doing a piss-poor job communicating them to the citizenry in terms they understand. Your average person - EVEN HERE - if pressed, will talk some shit about how Democrats don't seem to stand for anything, they're just anti-Bush and anti the Republicans. That is crap, my friends and neighbors. We most definitely DO stand for something, but we suck at communicating it.

Democrats stand for equal economic justice and opportunity. To me, that's the most fundamental principle. Everything else flows from that.

If people perceive you to just be against everything and to have no clear views of your own, they will not see you as a solution. We must present ourselves, clearly, concisely, and QUOTABLY, as the solution.

Even here, I see people claiming the Democrats in Congress "don't do anything." What nonsense. They are trying. They are writing legislation, they are proposing legislation, they are standing against bad legislation - but without control of any of the three branches of government, they are impotent and ineffectual. The 30-year-plan for GOP total dominance is reaching fruition, and the really horrible part of it is that now they control most of the MESSAGE, too. Always before, the opposition party could at least be heard, even if they couldn't get any of their platform enacted. Now we've nearly reached the point where we can't even be heard by the citizens.

Until your average person on the street can tell you in a 30-second soundbite what the Democratic party stands for, we will continue to flail. The GOP has done a brilliant job implanting the "tax and spend" meme in the public consciousness, to the point where at least half the people you asked to give you a quick soundbite of what we stand for would tell you just that. They'll tell you what the Republicans stand for, too (and all of it's crap, but advertising's like that - it often has no relationship to fact) - they'll say Republicans stand for an America safe from terrorists, a strong military, family values, and free markets. In truth, the modern Republican embodies none of those values, but perception is everything.

When will we learn to sell our message? How many years must we wander in the wilderness?

Quick - somebody give me a 30-second soundbite. What do Democrats stand for?

[natrat]

23. our leadership is mostly corrupt

until they take a stand on free and fair elections it's preety much a game of making the people think they have a choice. Black caucus,absent brazil and ford,are the only ones representing me. ok ted k and a few others....

[sarcasmo]

24. Electronic voting machines show the Republicans ahead by 5 points

[progressivebydesign]

25. Think globally, ACT locally!

It's imperative that everyone who is within an election district for 2006 (where there is a Democratic candidate running) get to work NOW! That means volunteering and raising money and writing letters, whatever it takes. We HAVE to get some part of the government back into our hands. It has to happen locally.

Even though there is a rising discontent with the dipshit GOP in Washington D.C., it doesn't always translate to the "local" representatives when people are voting. They don't really SEE their reps as D.C. people, but more as the smiling face in the local parade, or the one that poses for photos at the local school opening. There is a disconnect between the staggeringly dangerous politics and policies wrought by those same folks while they are working in D.C. We HAVE to defeat them at home, in their own turf. We HAVE to remind voters that those elected officials are one and the same with the failed policy makers in Washington.