Issue Watch
Track global public opinion on current issues.
- 2008: Race for the White House
- 2008: The U.S. Electoral College
- Abortion
- Africa
- Angela Merkel
- Death Penalty
- Economy and Globalization
- Environment
- European Union
- George W. Bush
- Global Warming
- Gordon Brown
- Hamas
- Immigration
- Iran
- Iraq War
- Kevin Rudd
- Latin America
- New Zealand Election 2008
- Nicolas Sarkozy
- North Korea
- Oil and Gas
- Same-Sex Marriage
- Silvio Berlusconi
- Stem Cell Research
- Stephen Harper
- Terrorism
- U.S. Election 2008 - The Democrats
- U.S. Election 2008 - The Republicans
- U.S. Election 2008: The Primaries
- Vladimir Putin
- Yasuo Fukuda
Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research
Democrats Lead by 19 Points in U.S. Ballot
- The Democratic Party keeps the upper hand before next month's congressional election in the United States, according to a poll by Knowledge Networks for the Program on International Policy Attitudes. 57 per cent of respondents would support the Democratic candidate in their district, while 38 per cent would vote for the Republican contender.
In the November 2004 congressional ballot, the Republican Party elected 232 lawmakers to the United States House of Representatives with 49.2 per cent of the vote, while the Democratic Party secured 202 seats with 46.6 per cent. The Republicans also have a majority in the Senate, with 55 members in the 100-seat upper house. American voters will renew the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate on Nov. 7.
On Oct. 24, Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Ken Mehlman expressed confidence in a victory for his party, saying, "I believe we hold both the House and the Senate. (...) Republicans have wanted America to be stronger. I think as our nation faces economic challenges in a global economy and we face a global war on terror, we don't need higher taxes and a weaker national security."
On Oct. 25, Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman Howard Dean criticized the current government, saying, "We need a new direction not just in Iraq. We need a new direction for the country. We've got to get rid of corruption in Congress. We need to do something for ordinary American families such as raising the minimum wage and finally dealing with health insurance, like 36 other countries in the world have. We need a new direction."
Polling Data
Thinking ahead to this November's elections, if the Congressional election were held today, would you vote for the...
Democratic candidate in your district | 57% |
Republican candidate in your district | 38% |
No answer | 5% |
Source: Knowledge Networks / Program on International Policy Attitudes
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,058 American adults, conducted from Oct. 6 to Oct. 15, 2006. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.