38% Agree With Perry’s Goal of Making Washington, DC Inconsequential, 34% Don’t
Texas Governor Rick Perry recently caused a stir when he told voters it was his goal to make Washington, D.C. as inconsequential as possible in their lives. But voters are closely divided over whether that’s such a good idea.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 38% of Likely U.S. Voters agree with the goal of making Washington as inconsequential as possible in the lives of Americans. But 34% disagree with that goal, and nearly as many (28%) are undecided about it. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Perry has jumped to a double-digit lead over Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann in the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, and 56% of GOP voters agree with his stated goal of making the Nation’s Capital inconsequential. But a plurality (48%) of Democrats disagrees with Perry’s goal. Among voters not affiliated with either party, 39% favor Perry’s idea, 35% don’t.
Seventy-three percent (73%) of Tea Party members share Perry’s enthusiasm for lessening the importance of Washington and the federal government, compared to just 28% of those who are not part of the grassroots movement.
Sixty-seven percent (67%) of the Political Class rejects Perry’s goal, while a plurality (45%) of Mainstream voters approves of it.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on August 23-24, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.
We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.
Some information, including the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll and commentaries are available for free to the general public. Subscriptions are available for $4.95 a month or 34.95 a year that provide subscribers with exclusive access to more than 20 stories per week on upcoming elections, consumer confidence, and issues that affect us all. For those who are really into the numbers, Platinum Members can review demographic crosstabs and a full history of our data.
To learn more about our methodology, click here.