Poll puts Democrats ahead in upcoming elections

Washington – More than half of Americans, 55%, would like to see Democrats take control of Congress, according to a poll by Newsweek magazine released on Saturday.

The poll of 1 000 likely voters found that 55% would choose a Democrat to represent their district if the vote were held now, and 37% said they would vote Republican. This includes 31% of white evangelical Christians, an increase of 6 points among that strongly Republican group over the 2004 elections.”Similarly, Democrats now lead among white Catholics, a group that went for President George W Bush in the 2004 presidential election,” Newsweek said in a statement.The poll, which had a margin of error of 4 percentage points, found that 44 per cent of white Catholics planned to vote Democrat and 42% planned to vote Republican.The poll found that 57% of those surveyed disapprove of Bush’s job performance and just 35% approve.And it found that 67% are dissatisfied with the direction in which things are moving in the United States.While 65% of those polled felt the United States was losing ground in Iraq, only 31% said the issue was the most important factor behind their vote this year for members of Congress.About 18% said the economy was most important while 16% said healthcare was most important to them.But 74% said a top priority for Congress should be to make changes to allow the government to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices for seniors, and this included 70% of Republicans.Nampa-ReutersThis includes 31% of white evangelical Christians, an increase of 6 points among that strongly Republican group over the 2004 elections.”Similarly, Democrats now lead among white Catholics, a group that went for President George W Bush in the 2004 presidential election,” Newsweek said in a statement.The poll, which had a margin of error of 4 percentage points, found that 44 per cent of white Catholics planned to vote Democrat and 42% planned to vote Republican.The poll found that 57% of those surveyed disapprove of Bush’s job performance and just 35% approve.And it found that 67% are dissatisfied with the direction in which things are moving in the United States.While 65% of those polled felt the United States was losing ground in Iraq, only 31% said the issue was the most important factor behind their vote this year for members of Congress.About 18% said the economy was most important while 16% said healthcare was most important to them.But 74% said a top priority for Congress should be to make changes to allow the government to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices for seniors, and this included 70% of Republicans.Nampa-Reuters