Research 2000 Poll Results, January 19, 2010

A poll was conducted immediately after the election last night of 1000 registered Massachusetts voters who voted for Obama in 2008. Half of the respondents voted in the MA special election for Republican candidate Scott Brown; half of the respondents did not vote at all. The poll definitively shows that voters who stayed home and voters who switched party allegiance share very common frustration and anger at an economy that continues to work better for Wall Street than Main Street.

There's a real populist anger out there. Voters worry that Democrats in power have not done enough to combat the policies of the Bush era. Both sets of voters wanted stronger, more progressive action on health care reform, as well. In summary, the poll shows that the party who fights corporate interests—especially on making the economy work for most Americans—will win the confidence of the voters.

• 95% of voters said the economy was important or very important when it came to deciding their vote.
• 53% of Obama voters who voted for Brown and 56% of Obama voters who did not vote in the Massachusetts election said that Democrats enacting tighter restrictions on Wall Street would make them more likely to vote Democratic in the 2010 elections.
• 51% of voters who voted for Obama in 2008 but Brown in 2010 said that Democratic policies were doing more to help Wall Street than Main Street.
• Nearly half (49%) of Obama voters who voted for Brown support the Senate health care bill or think it does not go far enough. Only 11% think the legislation goes too far.

You can see charts showing key findings here.

What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?

Generally speaking do you think Barack Obama and Democrats in Washington, DC are delivering enough on the change Obama promised to bring to America during the campaign?

Generally speaking, do you think Democrats in Washington, DC are fighting hard enough to challenge the Republican policies of the Bush years, aren’t fighting hard enough to change those policies, or are fighting about right?

Is the issue of the economy very important, somewhat important, or not important when deciding how or if to vote?

Which candidate in Tuesday’s special election for Senate did a better job of representing you and your family on economic issues: Republican Scott Brown or Democrat Martha Coakley?

If the Democratic Congress passed a bill that laid down stronger rules of the road for Wall Street and cut bonuses for the executives of companies that received government bailouts, would that make you more likely or less likely to vote Democratic in the 2010 general election?

What would do more to improve our nation’s economic conditions: Decreasing government spending OR tightening government regulation of Wall Street and corporate executives?

Democrats in Washington are more on my side than on the side of the lobbyists and special interests, OR Democrats in Washington are more on the side of the lobbyists and special interests than on the side of people like me.

When Democrats took power, they really changed things in Washington, OR
When Democrats took power, they didn’t change much about how Washington works.

Democrats economic policy is more focused on helping Wall Street than helping main street, OR
Democrats’ economic policy is more focused on helping Main Street than helping wall street.

Is the issue of national health care reform very important, somewhat important, or not important when deciding how or if to vote?

Do you favor or oppose the health care reform proposal recently passed by the U.S. Senate?

If oppose, do you think it goes too far or doesn’t go far enough?

Would you favor or oppose the national government offering everyone the choice of a government administered health insurance plan — something like the Medicare coverage that people 65 and older get — that would compete with private health insurance plans?

Would you favor or oppose requiring all Americans to buy health insurance from private companies — the so-called mandate — even if they find insurance too expensive or do not want it?

This poll was co-sponsored by MoveOn.org Political Action, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and Democracy for America.