Polls

New data out today: 

A solid majority of Americans say gays should be allowed to openly serve in the military, and an even higher percentage believe that the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy in effect since 1993 amounts to discrimination, according to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted Feb. 2-8.

A visual representation of the responses to one question the new Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll noted earlier today.

Horrifying data from a new Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll.

- 39 percent of Republicans believe Obama should be impeached, 29 percent are not sure, 32 percent said he should not be voted out of office.

- 36 percent of Republicans believe Obama was not born in the United States, 22 percent are not sure, 42 percent think he is a natural citizen.

- 31 percent of Republicans believe Obama is a "Racist who hates White people" -- the description once adopted by Fox News's Glenn Beck. 33 percent were not sure, and 36 percent said he was not a racist.

Read More »

Gallup has posted a new analysis of party affiliations by state showing that Missouri remained a "blue" state in 2009 despite perceived GOP gains.  In the Gallup Daily tracking surveys, Democrats maintained a 10 percentage point lead over Republicans in 2009, with little actual change from 2008. 

Despite the modest shift toward a decreased affiliation with the Democratic Party and an increased affiliation with the Republican Party in 2009 compared to 2008, the United States remained a Democratically oriented nation last year. In all, 33 states and the District of Columbia were either solidly Democratic or leaning Democratic in terms of the political party leanings of their residents. Twelve states were fairly evenly balanced between Democratic and Republican supporters, and 5 states were solidly or leaning Republican.

The Star's Yael T. Abouhalkah points to a CBS poll taken immediately after Obama's State of the Union speech:

-- "Eighty-three percent of speech watchers approved of Obama's proposals, while 70 percent thought Obama shares the same priorities for the country as they do (up from 57 percent before the speech)."

-- "Fifty-nine percent thought the president has a clear plan for creating jobs. Forty percent thought so before the speech."

Missourinet:

The YouGovPolimetrix survey has Carnahan with a 43 to 39 percentage point lead over Blunt among decided voters ... and shows Carnahan with a 40 to 34 percentage point lead over State Senator Chuck Purgason, who is also in the contest for the GOP nomination.

 From a new Public Policy Polling poll:

Our national poll this week found that only 19% of voters in the country are happy with the direction of the Republican Party, compared to 56% who are unhappy with it. Even among independents, who have voted overwhelmingly for [MA Senator-Elect] Scott Brown, [NJ Governor] Chris Christie, and [VA Governor] Bob McDonnell 58% say they don't like the direction the GOP is headed in.

The GOP's own voters are displeased with where the party's going- 38% say they are unhappy with the current direction to 35% who support it. In a trend that perhaps provides at least a ray of hope to Democrats the Republicans unhappy with their own party are disproportionately moderates. 54% of them are displeased to 25% content- the question is what Democrats can do to get those folks to actually jump ship.

There will be a lot of crowing from Republicans today about how Roy Blunt is benefitting from national dynamics in the most recent Rasmussen Poll, but here's a number you probably won't hear them talking about:

[Despite sagging approval ratings for Obama in Missouri], 61% approve of Democratic Governor Jay Nixon’s handling of his job, including 17% who Strongly Approve. Thirty-four percent (34%) disapprove of Nixon’s job performance, with 11% who Strongly Disapprove. This marks little change from December.

Clearly, Peter Kinder's "calculated" strategy to be a more relevant and effective voice of opposition is paying off.

The latest SurveyUSA poll shows a bit of rebound in Governor Jay Nixon's approval ratings. In the company's most recent survey, conducted 12/11-12/13, 49% of respondents approved of his work as governor, and 42% said they disapproved. In late November, Nixon's SurveyUSA numbers stood at 44%-46%.

According to Rasmussen's recent poll, "sixty-three percent (63%) approve of the job Missouri Governor Jay Nixon is doing and forty-seven percent (47%) say the same about the president."

A new Rasmussen telephone survey of 500 likely voters shows some slippage in Roy Blunt's performance against Robin Carnahan in a hypothetical general election contest, though the difference between the candidates is still within the margin of error (+/- 4.5%).

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds that Carnahan attracts 46% of the vote while Blunt earns 44%. In September, both candidates were at 46%. Four percent (4%) prefer some other candidate, and six percent (6%) are undecided.

Yikes! After months of supporting and pandering the ‘tea party’ activists, a new Rasmussen poll shows that a hypothetical “tea party” is actually more popular than the Republican Party in a generic Congressional ballot. From Rasmussen’s summary:

In a three-way Generic Ballot test, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Democrats attracting 36% of the vote. The Tea Party candidate picks up 23%, and Republicans finish third at 18%. Another 22% are undecided.

Among voters not affiliated with either major party, the Tea Party comes out on top. Thirty-three percent (33%) prefer the Tea Party candidate, and 30% are undecided. Twenty-five percent (25%) would vote for a Democrat, and just 12% prefer the GOP.

Public Policy Polling released their updated Senate rankings today with what they see as the " the Senate seats most likely to change hands next year."  It's a mixed bag for Democrats across the country, but here's what analyst Tom Jensen said about Missouri:

This is probably the best hope for a Democratic pickup next year because Robin Carnahan is considerably more popular at this point than Roy Blunt is. Still, she has to contend with the unpopularity of the President and her party in the state, and that's why she's only up by a point right now. If this was November 2007 I imagine her lead over Blunt would be double digits.

Politico's Glenn Thrush:

Thomson Reuters has conducted a huge survey of Americans attitudes towards health care reform and found that an eye-popping 57 percent of independents favor a public option -- with 60 percent of all those polled saying they favored the controversial provision...

Broken down by party, 86% of Democrats support the public option versus 57% of Independents and 33% of Republicans.

A new Washington Post poll shows that the Republican "rank and file" is generally united in its hatred of our unAmerican usurper president, but "also reveals deep dissatisfaction among GOP voters with the party's leadership as well as ideological and generational differences that may prove big obstacles to the party's plans for reclaiming power."

Fewer than half of the Republicans and Republican-leaners surveyed by The Washington Post see the party's leadership as taking the GOP in the 'right direction,' down sharply from this time four years ago. About four in 10 are dissatisfied with the policy proposals being offered by congressional Republicans, and similar numbers see the current crop of GOP legislators as out of touch with their problems and personal values. Nearly a third say the Republicans in Congress are not standing up for the party's core values...