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POLITICS

Plurality Sees Both Republicans, Democrats in Congress as Extreme

For the second month in a row, slightly more voters describe the Republican agenda in Congress as being more extreme than mainstream. Voters have consistently felt this way about the agenda of congressional Democrats.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 42% of Likely U.S. Voters believeit is more accurate to describe the agenda of Republican members of Congress as extreme, while 40% believe it’s more accurate to label the GOP agenda as mainstream. Eighteen percent (18%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
 

Prior to the latest survey, the number who viewed the GOP agenda as extreme bounced between 38% and 43% in six surveys since last August. Last month was the first time more voters felt the Republican agenda was extreme than mainstream.

Forty-seven percent (47%) say the Democratic agenda is extreme, while 40% believe it is mainstream. Fourteen percent (14%) are undecided. 
 

Since last year, the number of voters who describe the Democratic agenda as mainstream has ranged from 32% to 40%. Those who believe it is extreme have run from 45% to 57%.

(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 July 5, 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.

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