Zogby Interactive: 74% of Voters Expect No Compromises by GOP If They Win Congressional Majority & Half of Voters Prefer Gridlock to Current Democratic Control

53% Ready to Reverse Obama Policies

UTICA, New York--Three-fourths of likely voters do not believe Republicans will seek compromises with the Obama Administration if they win majorities in either the House or the Senate, and voters are split on whether it would be better to have gridlock in the federal government or have Democrats maintain control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency, a new Zogby Interactive finds

The Oct. 12-14 poll of 1,963 likely voters finds that 53% of likely voters are willing to reverse Obama Administration policies and 54% believe Republican majorities will propose new solutions.

Except for the question about possible compromises, Republican and Democratic voters have widely divergent responses. Independents are closely split on whether they agree or disagree with the four statement agreement questions. However, levels of agreement or disagreement from independents showed a good deal of polarization among these unaffiliated voters.

If Republicans win a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives or Senate, they will seek compromises with the Obama Administration.

Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding

I would rather have a divided government that leads to gridlock than have the Democrats maintain control of both Congress and the Presidency.

Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Two years has not been long enough to learn whether the policies of Congressional Democrats and President Obama will succeed, so it would be a mistake to reverse those policies now.

Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding

If Republicans win a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives or Senate, they will propose new ideas to deal with the nation's problems.

Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding

The questions offered four levels of agreement: strongly agree or disagree and somewhat agree or disagree. Even though independents were closely split overall on three of these questions, their levels of agreement or disagreement showed very strong opinions. For example, 42% of independents strongly agree and 41% strongly disagree that gridlock is preferable to Democratic control; 49% strongly disagree that two years has not been long enough to judge Obama's policies; and 55% strongly disagree that Republicans will seek compromises.

Pollster John Zogby: "This data presents a very troubled outlook for successful governance after the election. Polarization and distrust of government are both so high that few expect the parties to compromise, and many Republican voters don't seek compromise.  Half of the voters see gridlock as preferable to allowing Obama and the Democrats more time to see their policies carried through. Given the strong opinions of independents on these questions, there appears to be very little middle ground for any politicians who might seek it." 

The interactive poll has a margin of error of +/-2.2%.  A sampling of Zogby International's online panel, which is representative of the adult population of the U.S., was invited to participate.  Slight weights were added to region, party, age, race, religion, gender, and education to more accurately reflect the population.