POLITICO-GW Battleground Poll Finds Voters Believe Republicans Will Take the House and Senate but Still Blame Bush for the State of the Economy

WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Political tides are gravitating toward Republicans even though a quarter of Americans still blame former President George W. Bush for the state of the economy, the latest edition of the bipartisan POLITICO-George Washington University Battleground Poll found.  The poll results were released today at an event with pollsters Ed Goeas of The Tarrance Group and Celinda Lake of Lake Research Partners on the campus of George Washington University.  

Of the 1,000 registered voters who were surveyed, 45 percent believe that Republicans will take control the House if the midterm elections were held today, while 46 percent believe Republicans will take control of the Senate.  However, the Democratic Party and Republican Party are tied (43 percent - 43 percent) when matched in a Congressional generic ballot.  The Democratic Party gained three percentage points since the last poll in April 2010.

The poll also found that 62 percent of Americans believe that the country is headed in the wrong direction.  In addition, if the 2012 presidential election was held today the poll found that President Obama would lose to the Republican candidate, with 46 percent of voters favoring a Republican candidate and 42 percent favoring President Obama.  

Sixty-four percent of those surveyed disapprove of the job performance of Congress as a whole, a four point decrease since the last survey.  Fifty-seven percent disapprove of the job of Congressional Democrats, while 58 percent disapprove of the job of Congressional Republicans.  The survey found that President Obama has a job approval rating of 48 percent.

Since the last survey was taken in April, the public sentiment toward both Democrats and Republicans in Congress has worsened.  Also, the most recent survey found that Americans favor Republicans over Democrats in Congress to handle most issues.  

Those surveyed believe that the most important issue facing Congress is the economy and jobs, followed by government spending which came in a distant second.  On the issue of controlling the deficit, Americans favor Republicans in Congress to handle the issue over Democrats 45 percent to 28 percent.   Other results found that Democrats and Republicans are tied on the issue of job creation, both receiving 39 percent of the vote.  And 54 percent of Americans don't believe the economic stimulus legislation is working compared to 38 percent who do.

In answer to a question about who or what do you think is responsible for the state of our national economy, a quarter of Americans still blame President Bush, 20 percent blame large financial firms, 15 percent blame Congress and 11 percent blame President Obama.

For the complete list of survey results and expert analysis, visit gwu.edu or POLITICO.com

SOURCE George Washington University