Wednesday, June 17, 2009

GOP Eyes Mountain West

GOP congressional candidates in the notoriously libertarian Mountain West
believe they have an issue that could reap electoral gains in 2010 — government
spending.

Republicans have traditionally portrayed Democrats as big spenders, but
with the $700 billion rescue package, a $787 billion stimulus package, rising
healthcare costs and a growing tax bill, the GOP thinks, for the first time,
that it will be able to make the connection in voters’ minds between spending
and taxes that come later....

But polling numbers tell a different story.According to internal GOP
numbers, Democrats enjoyed an 11-point advantage on the generic congressional
ballot before the 2008 election.

Now, early polls in the 2010 cycle show Republicans leading the generic
ballot by six points, even as President Obama retains high approval ratings in
the region.

“Western voters are quite independent, and they are looking for greater
balance in government. There’s a rather serious concern over policy direction in
the Obama administration,” said Nicole McCleskey, a Western polling expert with
the GOP firm Public Opinion Strategies.

“There’s an approach to government that is not a hallmark of Western
states’ ideologies, that government should not play a terribly active role in
our lives,” McCleskey added. “I think Western voters bristle at the notion that
government knows best.”

After losing a significant percentage of the Mountain West in recent cycles
— including six seats in 2008 alone — the National Republican Congressional
Committee (NRCC) has found early success recruiting top-notch candidates in key
districts. And those candidates are all sounding similar tones.

Full story here

Note: Cory Gardner was quoted multiple times

2 comments:

  1. These "polls" that show Obama's continuing high approval ratings are hard to believe. With the economy like it is, I doubt that those numbers are right. It's like they are using these poll numbers to make everyone think that he is still loved by all.
    It is a mistake to assume that polls are right, they are usually misleading, deceptive and sometimes phony.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Every President has pretty much had high approval the first half of the year because it isn't their fault yet. The problem's are usually the problems from the President(s) before them. He can't be blamed yet for something he didn't create. But, he can and probably will be blamed later in like a year or two if the economy doesn't get better. No policy has really taken effect the first few months of a new president's term.

    ReplyDelete

Anyone can post a comment.