Georgians have a dismal view of Washington, but their attitude toward the Gold Dome in Atlanta is much brighter, a poll commissioned by House Republicans shows.
The poll, which Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, shared with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, gives the General Assembly and Gov. Nathan Deal high marks while support for Congress and President Barack Obama has cratered.
The poll was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies of Virginia, a prominent GOP firm, from Nov. 20-25. It queried 500 general election voters as well as an oversample of 400 GOP primary voters using a combination of landlines and cellphones. The poll, paid for by the House Republican Caucus and Ralston’s campaign, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.38 percentage points.
“They view what’s going on in here in this General Assembly in a positive light,” Ralston said. “They approve of the governor’s performance. I’ve been wondering if one of his (primary) opponents would reach double digits; now I’m wondering if together they’ll reach double digits.”
Ralston said it had been at least 10 years since the caucus had commissioned its own poll. The survey, he said, provides the GOP majority “benchmarks” for the upcoming legislative session and an election in which all 236 members of the House and Senate face re-election.
Among Republican voters, the poll shows jobs and the economy continue to dominate their interest. Among voters of all parties, the survey also finds broad support for the outlines of the Fair Tax, which would replace the state income tax with an increased sales tax. Fifty-seven percent of all voters support the idea, the poll found, including 70 percent of Republican voters.
But when the poll asked if they would support the concept if the sales tax increased 8 or 9 percent, was included on groceries or was extended to services like haircuts, support dropped dramatically.
Proposed legislation outlawing nearly all abortions was not met with a majority of support. Asked if they supported or opposed a constitutional ban on all abortions except when the life of the mother is in danger, only 35 percent of general election voters said they supported it. Only 50 percent of GOP voters said the same.
Among the findings: 42 percent of Georgia general election voters approve of Obama’s job performance, compared to just 5 percent of Republican primary voters.
For Congress, 11 percent of general election voters and 10 percent of GOP voters approve of its performance.
On the state level, however, the picture changes dramatically. Overall, 54 percent of voters approve of the job Deal has done compared to 72 percent of GOP voters. Forty-seven percent of general election voters give the General Assembly positive marks, compared to 58 percent of Republican voters.
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