The Harris Poll^® #43, May 19, 2005

Partisanship is Not What Most of the American Public Desires

Sizable majorities of U.S. adults favor both moderate and Independent candidates for office

With the U.S. Senate edging closer to a showdown over the filibuster and judicial nominations, it may appear as if partisanship is a dominating influence; but a new Harris Poll shows that the American public may not feel the same. Regardless of ideology, when asked if they favor or oppose candidates who are conservative, moderate or liberal, over three-quarters (79%) of U.S. adults favor moderate candidates while only 48 percent favor conservative candidates and 41 percent favor liberal candidates.

These are the results of a new Harris Poll of 2,322 U.S. adults surveyed online by Harris Interactive^® between May 4 and 10, 2005.

When asked about party label instead of ideology, there are interesting differences. A majority of all adults (67%) favor candidates who are Independent, while 46 percent favor Republicans and 56 percent favor Democratic candidates. Whether we look at it by party or ideology, there are certain commonalities. Whether a candidate is conservative or Republican, the public views them similarly. The public has a better perception of moderates over Independents, but both are still strongly favored. There is, however, a large difference between how the public perceives Democrats and liberal candidates, with the party label having higher favorability than the ideological label.

Perceived influence of various ideologies

Slightly over one-third (38%) of adults believe extreme liberals have too much influence in the Democratic Party, while 22 percent think they have too little influence. More than half (53%) believe extreme conservatives have too much influence in the Republican Party, compared to 10 percent who believe they have too little influence. Nearly half (48%) believe the Religious Right has too much influence in Washington, while one in five (21%) think they have too little influence.

Perspectives of extremism

One-quarter (26%) of Republicans believe the Religious Right has too much power in Washington and similar numbers (24%) think extreme conservatives have too much power in the Republican Party. Only 18 percent of Democrats think extreme liberals have too much influence in their party. Moderates and Independents similarly believe that extreme conservatives in the Republican Party (moderates, 64% and Independents, 63%) have too much influence and that extreme liberals in the Democratic Party have too much influence (moderates and Independents, 38% each).

Harris Interactive also asked people to compare today’s politicians with those of 10 years ago. Some results are as follows:

When asked if there were more or fewer politicians willing to vote regularly beyond their party label 10 years ago as compared to today,
- 33 percent said there were more,
- 16 percent believe the number of politicians is the same as it was 10 years ago, and
- 25 percent believe there are fewer politicians willing to vote beyond their party label today than 10 years ago.
When asked if members of Congress are more or less corrupt than they were 10 years ago,
- Over half (56%) believe members of Congress are more corrupt (24% said "much more" and 32% said "somewhat more" corrupt.
- 38 percent believe members of Congress are neither more nor less corrupt, and
- Only six percent say they are less corrupt.
When examined by party ID, half or more of each party believes members of Congress are more corrupt today than they were 10 years ago – (50% of Republicans, 60% of Democrats and 55% of Independents).

As we draw closer to the judicial showdown, the American public’s views on party line voting are clear. More than four out of five (85%) adults believe we need more elected politicians who will vote independently rather than on party lines. While, not surprisingly, 94 percent of Independents and 90 percent of moderates want independent voting, so do 88 percent of liberals, 87 percent of Democrats, and 79 percent of Republicans and conservatives.

TABLE 1

FAVOR/OPPOSE CANDIDATES BY IDEOLOGY

"Thinking about politicians in general, do you generally favor or oppose candidates who are…?"

Base: All Adults

		Ideology*			Party ID*
	Total	Conservative	Moderate	Liberal	Republican	Democrat	Independent
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Conservative – Favor	48	96	38	12	82	28	42
Conservative – Oppose	52	4	62	88	18	72	58

Moderate – Favor	79	69	93	72	78	79	89
Moderate – Oppose	21	31	7	28	22	21	11

Liberal – Favor	41	8	38	96	10	65	42
Liberal – Oppose	59	92	62	4	90	35	58

Note 1: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

*Note 2: Split Sample

TABLE 2

FAVOR/OPPOSE CANDIDATES BY PARTY

"Thinking about politicians in general, do you generally favor or oppose candidates who are…?"

Base: All Adults

		Ideology*			Party ID*
	Total	Conservative	Moderate	Liberal	Republican	Democrat	Independent
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Republican – Favor	46	83	41	13	96	10	30
Republican – Oppose	54	17	59	87	4	90	70

Independent – Favor	67	58	68	75	46	68	95
Independent – Oppose	33	42	32	25	54	32	5

Democrat – Favor	56	23	62	85	13	95	54
Democrat – Oppose	44	77	38	15	87	5	46

Note 1: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

*Note 2: Split Sample

TABLE 3

LEVEL OF INFLUENCE IN THE PARTY

"Do you think extreme liberals in the Democratic Party have…?"

Base: All Adults

		Ideology			Party ID
	Total	Conservative	Moderate	Liberal	Republican	Democrat	Independent
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Too much influence	38	67	38	12	66	18	38
Too little influence	22	8	18	58	5	39	23
Just the right amount of influence	15	10	20	17	10	21	16
Not sure	25	16	24	13	19	21	24