[UPDATE] Welcome, AoSHQ readers. And Instapundit readers. And Jules Crittenden readers, too. And Hot Air readers, of course. I cover this every month, you know.
Rasmussen hasn’t written the article yet – but they put the new numbers on their BY THE NUMBERS page. And it’s not pretty for Democrats:
| October 2009 | September 2009 | ||||||
| Issue | Dem | GOP | Diff | Dem | GOP | Diff | Shift |
| Health Care | 40% | 46% | (6) | 44% | 44% | – | (6) |
| Education | 38% | 43% | (5) | 45% | 40% | 5 | (10) |
| Social Security | 37% | 45% | (8) | 43% | 41% | 2 | (10) |
| Abortion | 35% | 47% | (12) | 37% | 44% | (7) | (5) |
| Economy | 35% | 49% | (14) | 39% | 47% | (8) | (6) |
| Taxes | 35% | 50% | (15) | 40% | 48% | (8) | (7) |
| Iraq | 31% | 50% | (19) | 37% | 47% | (10) | (9) |
| Nat’l Security | 31% | 54% | (23) | 39% | 51% | (12) | (11) |
| Gov’t Ethics | 29% | 33% | (4) | 34% | 35% | (1) | (3) |
| Immigration | 33% | 40% | (7) | 33% | 45% | (12) | 5 |
Note the dives on… everything, really, except immigration issues: the GOP increased its lead in 9 out of 10 categories since last month. But particularly note the Health Care, Social Security, Economy, and Taxes numbers. Does the Democratic Party feel like demonizing their opponents on health care rationing some more? – because I think that the GOP can somehow manage to find the strength to keep bearing up under the Democrats’ scorn.
Moe Lane
Crossposted to RedState.
It’s a long way from now until November 2010. However, if current trends continue on roughly the same glide path shown above, the Democrats may well be facing an off-year electoral wipeout on a “dinosaurian scale.”
The numbers are incredible. But if there any people who can blow this thing it is republicans like they are doing in district 23 in New York. Dumb and Dumber to be sure.
It’s interesting that while the GOP lost points on immigration, the Democrats didn’t pick any of that up. Seems like more people are moving into the “undecided” category on that issue.
What’s most amazing about these numbers is that the GOP I know doesn’t deserve the voting public’s confidence — and I suspect that their (relative) strength is far less an indication that they’ve regained that confidence than of just how much the Democrats have lost what they had.
Never underestimate the ability of the Stupid party to blow this gift from the Insane party.
Don’t forget that the vast majority of the “stimulus” money will hit the economy in early to mid 2010, just in time to provide a temporary uptick in employment numbers just in time for the elections. The American public has a very short attention span.
Just how is the Democrat position on immigration different from Republicans? Both parties shy away from enforcement, want some kind of general amnesty, view critics and racists and xenophobes.
I agree with “orthodoc”. Right now the GOP is viewed as the Not Democrat Party, which (for the moment) is a plus. That does not mean they are really any different from Democrats. The only difference between the GOP-controlled Congress and the current one is the fact that maybe the GOP was very slightly less crooked and spendthrift. Maybe.
“Very slightly.”
Uh-huhh.
Also note that Republicans have captured a majority in only one category, with two others on the edge.
If this shows anything it is that Repubs DO NOT need to become Dem light. The people in this survey are basing their answers on traditional values that Repubs have had for years. We need to stick to our principles of more individual freedom and less government.