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Rasmussen: Support for Stimulus Drops to 42 Percent

By Philip Klein on 1.29.09 @ 2:26PM

In an earlier post, I noted that the 52 percent public support for the stimulus bill reflected in the Gallup poll was a bit tepid, but a new Rasmussen poll finds support dropping to 42 percent with a near equal number of opposition at 39 percent. Some of the numbers behind the numbers are interesting, too. For instance, while support for the bill among Republicans and Democrats has remained relatively stable, "support among unaffiliated voters has fallen. A week ago, unaffiliateds were evenly divided on the plan, with 37% in favor and 36% opposed. Now, 50% of unaffiliated voters oppose the plan while only 27% favor it." In addition, 46 percent of those polled are worried that the government will end up doing too much, compared with 42 percent who worry it will do too little.

If these results end up being corroborated by other polls, it would suggest that Republican attacks on the bill have been gaining traction. Another two weeks of hammering away at this thing, and we could see a massive errosion of public support. At the very minimum, we should hold off on adopting the conventional wisdom that the legislation is broadly popular.

View all comments (4) | Leave a comment

JP| 1.29.09 @ 4:03PM

Maybe the GOP can force the Dems hand and shave off about $400 billion of what can only be called pure pork.

Helen Jenkins| 1.29.09 @ 4:35PM

America's awakening, or re-awakening is long overdue. The PC Democratic Party has long had as its ultimate goal - a totalitarian society 'via' creeping socialism. The American voter has the ultimate power not the corrupt politician. They simply need to be made aware of their power. The 2008 election - Obama Presidency + Democratic majority is the long awaited, over-due wake up call for America that their " America " was gradually being eroded. American must take back their power, beginning with the failing education system and its corrupt politicians.

tony| 1.29.09 @ 4:58PM

I believe this event may very well serve as a harbinger of the ineptitude of O and the congressional dems going forward. As we have been saying for the past year, O has zero experience and his allies are some of the dumbest people to ever hold office. Anyone who takes the time to peruse the transcript of a Nancy Pelosi interview would see that.

The idea that a new president, riding a tidal wave of popularity and with the country desperate for some sort of economic spark, could wind up blowing this is remarkable. The irony is that if O had worked with the republicans and really included them in this process, chances are the bill could end up being something worthwhile. But now, everyone is starting to see this thing for what it is and the dems have 100% ownership for this monstrosity.

O could still pull it out, but that would take political courage, something I doubt he possesses. What he could do is veto the bill, claiming it is larded down with pork and does nothing to address the real problem. If he does that, he will be seen as practically heroic and his ratings would soar. It would give him total cover going forward with respect to any results from the bill. Of course, he will not do anything of the sort because in reality he is getting exactly what he wants, a pile of pork.