Issue #96

by Art Kelly

1. A new Rasmussen Reports found that 72% of Republican voters believe that GOP members of Congress have lost touch with the party base throughout the nation.

21% say Republicans in the House and Senate have done a good job representing the party’s values, while 7% are not sure.

By contrast, only 29% of grassroots Democrats think their elected officials in Washington, D.C. have lost touch with their values. 61% of Democratic voters think their representatives in Congress have done a good job of representing them. 10% are not sure.

A good example of the disconnect between grassroots Republicans and GOP congressional leaders is the report in CQ--Roll Call that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will not campaign for Sharron Angle, the Tea Party-backed conservative Republican candidate running against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).

Angle won a big victory in the Nevada Republican Primary, defeating several strong opponents. The Secretary of State’s office reported the final results:

Sharron Angle 70,424 (40.1%)
Sue Lowden 45,871 (26.1%)
DDanny Tarkanian 40,926 (23.3%)
John Chachas 6,926 (3.9%)
Chad Christensen 4,803 (2.7%)
Bill Parson 1,483 (0.8%)
6 others 2,151 (1.3%)
None of these 3,090 (1.8%)

Following the primary, the first general election poll from Rasmussen found Angle with a large lead over Reid:

Sharron Angle (R) 50%
Sen. Harry Reid (D) 39%
Other candidates 5%
Undecided 6%

McConnell’s antagonism towards populist conservatives was reflected in his home state as well.

A previous issue of this newsletter reported that Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, said the landslide victory of Dr. Rand Paul in Kentucky’s Republican Primary for U.S. Senator represented a major vote of no confidence in McConnell, who strongly backed Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson.

“The election results are a massive repudiation of McConnell and the Republican congressional leadership, which aggressively supported Grayson. Coming on the heels of Senator Robert Bennett’s defeat in Utah and the Republican Senatorial Committee’s previous support for Charlie Crist in Florida, it is clear that many Washington, D.C. GOP leaders are enormously out of touch with the base of the Republican Party, grassroots conservatives,” Viguerie said.

The latest nationwide poll verifies that his assessment was correct.

Meanwhile, back in Nevada, Brian Sandoval easily defeated Governor Jim Gibbons in the Republican Primary. The final results were:

Brian Sandoval 97,201 (55.5%)
Gov. Jim Gibbons 47,616 (27.2%)
Michaell Montandon 22,003 (12.6%)
Tony Atwood 2,440 (1.4%)
Stanleigh Lusak 1,380 (0.8%)
None of these 4,400 (2.5%)

Senator Reid’s son, Rory Reid, won the Democratic nomination for governor, but trails Sandoval by a very large margin, according to the latest Rasmussen poll:

Brain Sandoval (R) 54%
Rory Reid (D) 31%
Other candidates 3%
Undecided 13%

2. A new Rasmussen Reports finds Republican nationwide lead for Congress, 46% to 36%, but an Associated Press-GfK Poll says the American people prefer Democratic candidates for Congress 46% to 39%.

Other polls are also divided in their results.

According to Real Clear Politics, Gallup has the GOP ahead 49% to 44% and Ipsos/McClatchy shows a narrow Republican lead 43% to 42%.

By contrast, Fox News shows the Democrats on top 41% to 38%. ABC News and the Washington Post also show the Democrats ahead 47% to 44%. Public Policy Polling has the Democrats up 43% to 41%.

The average for all seven polls:
Republicans 42.8%
Democrats 42.7%