Rasmussen Pole: Do most voters view congressional democrats as "too liberal"?

I guess we'll find out for sure at the Mid-Term-Olympics this November! Woooo

Democrats In Congress Too Liberal, Most Voters Believe

Thursday, January 27, 2022

A majority of voters think congressional Democrats are too liberal, and agree with the Senate GOP leader that voters don’t want to “fundamentally transform America.”

A new national telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports finds that 55% of Likely U.S. voters believe Democrats in Congress are too liberal on most issues. Sixteen percent (16%) think congressional Democrats are too moderate, while 20% think their policies are about right. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

By comparison, 36% of voters say congressional Republicans are too conservative, 21% think they’re too moderate and 33% believe the GOP in Congress is about right.

After the defeat of Democrat-backed election reform legislation in the Senate last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said: “The American people are closely divided. ... There’s not a mandate to fundamentally transform America into something it’s never been. That’s not what the voters voted for." Sixty-four percent (64%) of voters agree with McConnell’s quote, including 42% who Strongly Agree. Twenty percent (20%) disagree, and another 16% are not sure.

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The survey of 1,000 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on January 20 and 23, 2022 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.

The survey revealed that Democratic voters are more discontented than Republicans with their party’s Congress members. Twenty-six percent (26%) of Democratic voters believe their party’s members of Congress are too liberal on most issues, 30% think they’re too moderate and just 36% say their policies are about right. By comparison, 50% of GOP voters believe their party’s members of Congress are about right, with only 17% saying Republicans in Congress are too conservative and 26% who believe they’re too moderate. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 60% think Democrats in Congress are too liberal, compared to 26% who think Republicans in Congress are too conservative.

Seventy-four percent (74%) of Republicans, 53% of Democrats and 65% of unaffiliated voters at least somewhat agree with McConnell that voters didn’t give Congress “a mandate to fundamentally transform America.”

A solid majority of voters age 40 and older think Democrats in Congress are too liberal, but just 45% of voters under 40 agree. However, younger voters are only slightly more likely to think Republicans in Congress are too liberal. Older voters are much more likely to Strongly Agree with McConnell’s statement that Congress doesn’t have “a mandate to fundamentally transform America.”

There is little evidence of a “gender gap” on voter’s views of Congress, although slightly more men than women think the problem with Republicans in Congress is that they’re too moderate.

More whites (58%) than black voters (41%) or other minorities (53%) think Democrats in Congress are too liberal on most issues.

Voters with annual incomes over $100,000 or more are much more likely to believe Republicans in Congress are too conservative. Those with incomes of $200,000 a year or more are most likely to think the policies of Democrats are about right.

More government employees (44%) than private sector workers (33%) believe Republicans in Congress are too conservative on most issues.

Among voters who think Democrats in Congress are too liberals on most issues, 14% also believe Republicans are too conservative, while 30% view the congressional GOP as too moderate and 49% think their policies are about right.

President Joe Biden’s strongest supporters are most likely to think voters gave Congress “a mandate to fundamentally transform America.” Among voters who Strongly Approve of Biden’s job performance as president, 36% disagree with McConnell’s quote denying that Congress has such a mandate, while among voters who Strongly Disapprove of Biden’s performance, only 12% disagree with the quote from McConnell.

Most voters are happy with last week’s defeat of Democrat-backed election reform legislation, and support a GOP senator’s call for a bipartisan bill.

Voters are significantly more worried about inflation and violent crime than they are about COVID-19 or climate change.