55% Expect Washington Politics to Grow More Partisan

Posted 11 9 2009 1:11AM

Fifty-five percent (55%) of U.S. voters expect politics in Washington, D.C. to become more partisan over the next year, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

While that's down 10 points from a month ago, it's 15 points higher than the level measured the week Barack Obama took office in January.

Twenty-three percent (23%) of voters expect Washington politics to grow more cooperative, up six points over the past month but still down 17 points from late January.

The findings come as national Republicans celebrate taking back the governorships of New Jersey and Virginia this week, which is sure to make them more vocal about policy differences with President Obama and congressional Democrats.

While 64% of Republicans and 60% of voters not affiliated with either party expect politics to become more partisan in the next year, only 42% of Democrats agree. But just 32% of Democrats believe politics will grow more cooperative.

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Voters are critical of both parties in Congress.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of voters believe Republicans are acting like partisan Republicans, the highest level measured to date. Only 20% of voters say congressional Republicans are acting in a bipartisan manner.

Sixty-three percent (63%) say Democrats in Congress members are behaving like partisan Democrats, up five points from October. Just 22% say the party's representatives in Washington are acting on a bipartisan basis. That matches the level found the week Obama took office.

Meanwhile, a substantial number of Republican voters think the party's representatives in Congress haven't done a good job of representing GOP values. By contrast, a solid plurality (47%) of Democratic voters say their congressmen are on the same page with them ideologically.

As for the president himself, one-out-of-three voters (34%) believe he is governing on a bipartisan basis. Fifty percent (50%) say the president is governing like a partisan Democrat, a figure that has held steady for the past four months but is up 11 points from when he first took office.

Forty-two percent (42%) of voters believe partisan politics is the real reason for Republican opposition to health care.

But most voters don't think Congress will address the most important issues facing the nation today anyway.

A plurality of voters (49%) now says it is at least somewhat likely that Republicans will win control of Congress next year. But only 18% say it is very likely.

The Generic Congressional Ballot showed no change this week, as Republicans continue to hold on to a four-point lead over Democrats.

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This national telephone survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports November 3-4, 2009. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence (see methodology).

Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.