51% Say Democratic Agenda In Congress Is Extreme, 47% Say Same of GOP's

Voters still tend to see the congressional agendas of both major political parties as out of the mainstream and view President Obama and the average member of Congress as out of step with them ideologically.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 51% of Likely U.S. Voters regard the agenda of Democrats in Congress as extreme. A plurality (47%) says the same of the Republican congressional agenda. Thirty-eight percent (38%) put the Democratic agenda in the mainstream, while a nearly identical 39% rates the GOP agenda in Congress that way. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Since August of last year when regular tracking began on this question, belief that the Democratic congressional agenda is extreme has ranged from a low of 45% to a high of 57%. 

In that same period, 38% to 49% have described the Republican agenda in Congress as extreme.

Those who believe the Democratic agenda is mainstream have run from 32% to 41% over the past year, while 35% to 45% have said the same of the GOP agenda.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on October 4-5, 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.