Most Voters Prefer A Candidate Who Lays Off The Pork

Many members of Congress pride themselves on their ability to bring home pork barrel spending, but with the mood of the voters in 2010, that may not be such a good idea.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters finds that 60% prefer a candidate who would work to cut federal government spending over one who would work to make sure his district gets a fair share of that spending.

Only half as many (31%)  favor a candidate who would focus on getting the district its share of the spending.

Eighty-four percent (84%) of Republicans and 68% of voters not affiliated with either of the major political parties like a candidate who works to cut spending.

But 56% of Democrats disagree and opt for the candidate who will try to bring home a fair share of federal monies. Still, even 33% of those in Nancy Pelosi’s party prefer the candidate who will work to cut spending.

Not surprisingly, the gap on spending is even bigger between the Political Class and Mainstream Voters than it is between Republicans and Democrats. Seventy-four percent (74%) of Mainstream voters want a candidate who will focus on spending cuts, but 83% of those in the Political Class like a candidate more interested in getting a piece of the federal spending pie (see more about the Mainstream and Political Class divide).

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters U.S. Voters was conducted on October 12-13, 2010 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.