Poll Tracker

However, a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Sept. 22 said that 44 percent of likely voters oppose the $700 billion bail-out, 25 percent favor it and 31 percent are not sure. Thirty-five percent say the plan will help, 30 percent say it will hurt, and 13 percent predict it will have no impact. Sixty-three percent say that there should be limits on how much is paid to executives and bankers who are helped by the rescue. Voters trust McCain over Obama to see the financial crisis through to a successful conclusion by 49 percent to 43 percent.

The Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll conducted Sept. 19-22 said 55 percent of Americans did not believe the government should be responsible for funding a bailout plan. But the poll said those opinions were "malleable" because respondents were still absorbing the facts of the story, as the Pew poll indicated. The Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg pollsters said the difference in outcomes had to do with the difference in the questions that were posed: "The Times/Bloomberg poll asked respondents whether they believed it was 'the government's responsibility to bail out private companies with taxpayers' dollars.' A majority said no. The Pew poll, by contrast, asked respondents if 'investing billions to try to keep financial institutions and markets secure' was the right thing to do. A majority said yes."

Other findings of the Times/Bloomberg survey:

• Sixty-two percent of voters said insufficient regulation was partly responsible for the crisis.
• Thirty-two percent blamed Wall Street institutions and 26 percent blamed the Bush administration.
• Fifty percent said they felt less secure financially compared to 49 percent who said they felt no differently or more secure.
• Those who felt less secure favored Obama, those who felt more secure favored McCain.

A Washington Post/ABC News survey conducted Sept. 19-22 says voters approve of the steps taken by the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve by 47 percent to 42 percent, but only 11 percent strongly approve.