Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln registers no higher than 41 percent and trails four prospective Republican challengers among likely voters in hypothetical match-ups, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Sept. 28. The margin of error is 4.5 percent.

State Sen. Gilbert Baker, who declared his candidacy earlier this month, is the only one of the Republicans with a statistically significant lead over Lincoln, who is seeking a third term in 2010 - 47 percent to 39 percent. State Senate Minority Leader Kim Hendren leads Lincoln 44 percent to 41 percent, while Tom Cox, head of the Arkansas T.E.A. Party is up 43 to 40 percent and Curtis Coleman, CEO of Safe Foods Corp., leads 43 to 41 percent.

The latest of a slew of polls on Virginia's Nov. 3 contest for governor -- this one by Rasmussen Reports and conducted Sept. 29 -- suggests the more surveys that are in the field, the wider the range of possible outcomes.

The Rasmussen poll is the second this week suggesting that Republican nominee Bob McDonnell, a former state Attorney General, has a comfortable lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds, a state senator.

But those polls came directly on the heels of other surveys that showed Deeds has closed to within a low-to-mid single-digit margin.

Rasmussen's poll of 500 Virginians who say they are likely to vote gives McDonnell 51 percent and Deeds 42 percent. A SurveyUSA poll conducted Sept. 26-29 gave McDonnell a 14-point edge, 55 percent to 41 percent.

These results compare with the much-smaller 5-point lead for McDonnell, 48 percent to 43 percent, in a Public Policy Polling survey conducted Sept. 25-28.

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine has closed the gap with Republican opponent Chris Christie to the closest it's been in month, according to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted Sept. 23 to 28.

Corzine now trails Christie 39 percent to 43 percent among likely voters as the campaign enters its final month.

That's an improvement for the incumbent from Sept. 1, when a Quinnipiac poll showed Corzine lagging behind Christie by 10 percentage points.

Pennsylvania Democrats have yet to settle on a possible successor to Gov. Edward G. Rendell, who is retiring after reaching his limit of two terms, according to a Quinnipiac University poll taken Sept. 21-28.

With no early frontrunner, the party is is in danger of losing the office to the Republicans, the survey found.

Half the Democrats in the poll of registered voters are undecided, and the other half are scattered among five candidates, led by Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, who tops the field with 14 percent. Former Rep. Joseph M. Hoeffel, who is now a Montgomery County commissioner, drew 12 percent in the poll, followed by State Auditor General Jack Wagner with 11 percent, Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty with 8 percent, and businessman Tom Knox with 5 percent.

"The Democratic race for governor is wide open," said Peter Brown, assistant director of Quinnipiac's polling institute. "The candidates just aren't that visible to most voters and that race is still far, far away from even having a front- runner.'

A SurveyUSA poll conducted Sept. 26-29 gives Republican Bob McDonnell a much larger lead in the Nov. 3 election for Virginia governor than other recent surveys.

McDonnell, a former state Attorney General, leads Democratic nominee Creigh Deeds, a state senator, by 55 percent to 41 percent, according to the survey of 631 likely voters.

Most recent surveys have given McDonnell a small but steady advantage in the polls, but the SurveyUSA poll gives McDonnell a 17-point lead among men and a 10-point lead among women.

Now that the waiting is over, the state that was evenly split over whether it wanted Al Franken in the Senate is still unsure about Minnesota's junior senator.

Fully 30 percent of the 1,000 adults surveyed for the Minneapolis Star Tribune weren't sure enough to venture an opinion about how Franken's doing, according to the poll conducted Sept. 21-24.

Of the rest, Franken's two months of work as a senator won the approval of 41 percent of respondents and the disapproval of 29 percent.

A plurality of likely Arizona voters thinks Sen. John McCain has not done a good job of representing Republican values, but a majority still approves of his job performance, according to a new poll from Rasmussen Reports.

In the poll, conducted Sept. 24, 46 percent of respondents said McCain has lost touch with Republican voters, including 61 percent of Republicans. That is an 11 percent increase since May among GOP voters who don’t think he represents their base.

Thirty-six percent of likely voters and 33 percent of Republicans said the five-term senator has a done a good job of representing GOP values. Seventeen percent weren’t sure.

Despite discontent within his base, McCain still looks like a strong favorite for re-election. Fifty-six percent of likely voters approved of his job performance, 22 percent strongly. Forty-three percent disapproved, 24 percent strongly.

People are a bit on edge about proposals to overhaul the nation's health care system but are generally positive about the prospects for improvement, according to a survey for the Kaiser Family Foundation taken Sept. 11-18.

When asked to describe their feelings, they say they are anxious (50 percent), hopeful (68 percent), optimistic (55 percent), and frustrated (58 percent).

While 65 percent say they know a lot or a fair amount about the proposals, nearly half of the respondents say they are confused.

Virginia Republican Bob McDonnell continues to narrowly lead Democrat Creigh Deeds in the state's Nov. 3 contest for governor, aided by near-unanimous support among Republicans and an advantage among among political independents -- according to a Public Policy Polling survey conducted Sept. 25-28.

The poll of 576 likely voters gave McDonnell 48 percent and Deeds 43 percent. That result conforms with other recent surveys showing McDonnell, a former state legislator and Attorney General, with a lead that is narrower than the advantage he held over Deeds in the summer.

McDonnell holds a 14 percentage-point lead over Deeds among the crucial swing-voting constitutuency of political independents polled by PPP: 51 percent to 37 percent. That is despite the fact that the two candidates have nearly identical favorability ratings, with McDonnell is viewed favorably by 47 percent and unfavorably by 42 percent, and Deeds seen favorably by 43 percent and unfavorably by 42 percent.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown is outpolling his likely opponents for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and for the 2010 general election, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey taken Sept. 24.

Brown, who served two terms as governor in the 1970s, has a higher favorability rating than San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who also is seeking the Democratic nomination, 53 percent to 45 percent.

And in a hypothetical general election race, Brown leads former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, a Republican candidate, 44 percent to 35 percent, and two other candidates now seeking the Republican nomination, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner 45 percent to 32 percent, and former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell 44 percent to 34 percent, according to Rasmussen.

Public support continues to erode for plans by the White House and congressional Democrats to overhaul the nation's health care system, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll taken Sept. 24-25.

Forty-one percent of likely voters said they support the overhaul proposals now making their way through Congress, while 56 percent say they oppose these plans, Rasmussen said.

The intensity of opinion appears to be on the side of opponents, 43 percent of whom strongly oppose the plans as currently proposed while 23 percent strongly favor them.

Americans have some doubts about President Obama's next moves in Afghanistan and his handling of foreign policy, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll conducted the week of Sept. 21, but he's also shored up support for health care overhaul, his top domestic priority.

The poll of more than 1,000 adults shows growing optimism that the economy has begun to turn around. Obama's overall approval rating has held steady at 51 percent since August, as his message on health care has clearly begun to penetrate.

Still, the poll inferred some warnings for Obama and congressional Democrats.

For the first time, independent voters -- who put Obama in the White House and gave Democrats control of Congress -- disapprove of the job he is doing, by 46 percent compared with the 41 percent who approve. In July, 49 percent of independents approved of the president, against 38 percent who disapproved.

New doubts about the president have coincided with new hopes for Republicans, who appeared flattened by the election nearly a year ago.

As the 2010 election cycle heats up, 40 percent now favor Republican control of Congress compared with 39 percent in July; 43 percent favor a Democratic-controlled Congress compared with 46 percent in July.

However, the mood is improving on the economy: nearly one-quarter of the poll's respondents said they feel satisfied with the state of the economy, which marks a 10-point jump from July. Thirty-five percent of respondents now believe the economy has pretty much hit bottom, compared with 27 percent who thought so in July.

President Obama's approval numbers hit negative double digits again, a Sunday Rasmussen tracking poll shows, with 30 percent strongly approving of his performance and 40 percent strongly disapproving.

The approval index -- calculated by subtracting the number who strongly disapprove from the number who strongly approve yielded a rating of minus 10. Rasmussen said it is the first time in three weeks that the approval index fell to negative double digits.

On Sept. 6, 29 percent strongly approved of the president's performance and 40 percent strongly disapproved, for a rating of minus 11.

In the telephone poll of 1,500 likely voters over three days, 48 percent of voters said they "somewhat approve" of Obama's performance, while 51 percent "somewhat disapprove." The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

California Sen. Barbara Boxer earns less than 50 percent of the vote in hypothetical match-ups against two prospective Republican challenger, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Sept. 23.

Boxer, who is running for a fourth term in 2010, leads former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina 49 percent to 39 percent and conservative state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore 46 percent to 37 percent among likely California voters. The margin of error is 4.5 percent.

For Boxer, that is an improvement over her showing in a July survey, when she led Fiorina by just 4 percentage points.

There's no early favorite in the 2010 U.S. Senate race in Ohio, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Sept. 23.

Former Rep. Rob Portman, a former federal budget and trade official who is the leading Republican candidate for the seat, is essentially running even with the Democratic candidates, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.

Portman has 41 percent and Fisher has 40 percent in the poll, which gave Portman 40 percent when paired with Brunner, who has 38 percent support.

There's no doubt that the Nov. 3 election for Virginia governor is closer than it was a month ago, after the latest in a series of polls showing the gap between front-running Republican Bob McDonnell and Democratic rival Creigh Deeds closing to low single-digit percentages .

A survey conducted Sept. 23 by Insider Advantage/Majority Opinion Research gives McDonnell 48 percent and Deeds 44 percent.

The poll, of 602 registered voters, shows signs that Deeds is solidifying his partisan voting base. He enjoys more support among self-described Democrats (89 percent) than McDonnell does among self-described Republicans (79 percent), though McDonnell has a 22-point lead among independents.

John Oxendine, Georgia's insurance commissioner, leads among Republican candidates in the state's 2010 race for governor, while former Gov. Roy Barnes leads the Democratic field, according to a Strategic Vision poll of likely voters conducted Sept. 18-20.

But the large number of undecided respondents reported by the survey means it may be premature to label those candidates as the odds-on favorites for their parties' nominations in the open-seat race.

Oxendine led six other candidates for the July primary with 38 percent. Undecided respondents made up the second-largest group surveyed with 25 percent. Among the other contenders, Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel received 15 percent and Rep. Nathan Deal received 10 percent. Four other Republicans split the remainder in the poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine trails Republican Chris Christie by 7 percentage points in a Sept. 21 Rasmussen Reports poll.

With less than six weeks remaining until Election Day, Christie, a former U.S. attorney, led Corzine 48 percent to 41 percent. An additional 6 percent of voters indicated support for Independent Chris Daggett, a former EPA administrator, and 5 percent remain undecided.

"The data suggests that a segment of the initially undecided voters may have already rejected Corzine and are now trying to decide whether to vote for Christie or Daggett," Rasmussen said.

Survey respondents indicated they trust Christie more than Corzine, who is vying for a second term, on taxes, government spending and government corruption.

Taxes remains the top concern of voters surveyed with 40 percent of respondents indicating it's the most important issue in the campaign. Christie has accused Corzine's administration of driving away residents and businesses by failing to rein in the state's high taxes.

The poll sampled the opinions of 500 likely voters.

CQ Politics rates the race Leans Republican.

To follow the 2009 and 2010 governors' races, check out CQ Politics' election map.

-- Rachel Kapochunas

The two leading candidates for Missouri's open U.S. Senate seat are in a very close race with just more than one year before the 2010 balloting, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey conducted Sept. 21.

The survey of 500 likely voters showed 46 percent support for both Democrat Robin Carnahan, Missouri's secretary of state, and Republican Roy Blunt, a seven-term House member from the state's 7th District.

The poll said that 57 percent of respondents have a very favorable or somewhat favorable view of Blunt, while 52 percent said the same of Carnahan.

Public disapproval of the way Congress is doing its job is a 3-1 runaway over public approval, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll taken Sept. 17-20.

Public approval of Congress stood at 22 percent, while disapproval was 66 percent, according to the poll. As bad as that may sound, it's not as bad as it has been. Last October, the same poll found public approval of Congress was 12 percent.

Despite their low opinion of how Congress is doing, people responding to the survey aren't crazy about their choices: 41 percent feel positive about the Democratic Party, which now controls both houses of Congress, and 39 percent have negative feelings. Republicans are not in a strong position to capitalize on that. Twenty-eight percent have positive feelings toward the GOP, and 43 percent are negative.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley's favorability rating is not much better than that of the man he defeated in 2006, former Gov. Bob Ehrlich, according to a state poll taken Sept. 8-17 by Gonzales Research and Marketing.

Forty-eight percent of registered voters responding to the poll said they had a favorable opinion of O'Malley, a Democrat, while 28 percent have an unfavorable opinion of him and 23 percent are neutral, according to the poll.

Meanwhile, Ehrlich, a Republican, is viewed favorably by 42 percent of those responding to the poll, while 26 percent view him unfavorably and 26 percent are neutral, according to the Gonzales poll.

Seventy-one percent of registered New York voters apparently share the same view as President Barack Obama when it comes to their governor's race: They do not want incumbent David A. Paterson to run, preferring to elect someone else in 2010, according to a Siena College poll conducted Sept. 13 to 17.

Paterson this weekend rebuffed calls from the White House to bow out of the race.

He cannot so easily dismiss New York voters. Seventy-three percent agreed that Paterson is "well intentioned but isn't getting the job done" and 61 percent agreed that he "doesn't have the leadership skills necessary to be governor of New York."

Sen. Al Franken still has some convincing to do to his constituents in Minnesota, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll taken Sept. 15.

Franken, a Democrat, unseated Republican Sen. Norm Coleman by 312 votes in a race that was decided only after a long recount of the ballots.

The Rasmussen poll found that 41 percent of likely voters in Minnesota think he is doing an excellent or good job, while 31 percent say he is doing a fair or poor job. Not surprisingly, Democrats (79 percent) say he is doing an excellent or good job while Republicans (56 percent) say he is doing poorly.

Health care overhaul legislation does not appear to contain a good prognosis for a life in politics, if the latest ratings for Sen. Charles E. Grassley are any indicator.

In the latest Iowa Poll, conducted Sept. 14-16 by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, the approval rating for the Iowa Republican plunged nearly 20 points, to 57 percent from 75 percent in January.

His rating in the poll, conducted for the Des Moines Register, stood at 66 percent in April, just before the most intense talks on the overhaul began.

Lawyers, stockbrokers, and journalists, take heart. You're not the lowest creatures on Earth, according to a poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports Sept. 17-18.

That label is now worn by members of Congress, and it's something where people of all political stripes actually seem to agree: 86 percent of Republicans and 81 percent of independents have an unfavorable opinion of members of Congress. And maybe the most sobering kick in the pants is that 56 percent of Democrats - who control both the House and Senate - say they don't like the people they find there.

Seventy-two percent of the respondents to the Rasmussen survey said they had an unfavorable opinion of members of Congress, and slightly more than half of that group said their opinion was "very unfavorable."

A Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll conducted Sept. 14-16 gives Republican Bob McDonnell a 7-point lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds in the Virginia governor's race -- a larger lead for McDonnell than in a different poll this week that suggested the Nov. 3 race is a dead heat.

McDonnell has 50 percent and Deeds has 43 percent in the Daily Kos/Research 2000 survey, which gives the Republican a higher approval rating (56 percent) than either Deeds (47 percent), outgoing Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine (45 percent) or even President Obama (45 percent).

The survey showed that Deeds still has some work to do to solidify his Democratic Party base. He is winning 80 percent of self-identified Democrats, but 89 percent of self-described Republicans say they are backing McDonnell, who also has a 13-point edge over Deeds among political independents.

The approval chart for Democrats in Congress looks like a ball that rolled off a ledge, but they can cling to a couple of facts they might take as good news: Things have been worse for them before, and as bad as things are now, the Republicans are suffering even more, according to a Gallup poll taken Aug. 31-Sept. 2.

Part of the reason approval for Republicans in Congress is in the tank is that Republicans'support for their own kind has dropped from 52 percent to 39 percent, and one reason their approval rating isn't worse is that Democrats' approval for Republicans in Congress has risen from 9 percent last December to 20 percent in mid-September, Gallup said.

Public approval of the job Congress does as a whole is at 31 percent and has held steady in the low-30 percent range since June, Gallup said.

Democrat Creigh Deeds is catching up to Republican Bob McDonnell in the Virginia governor's race by winning over some undecided voters, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey conducted Sept. 16.

The poll, which canvassed 500 likely voters in the Nov. 3 election, gave McDonnell 48 percent and Deeds 46 percent, which is effectively a dead heat. Recent polls have given McDonnell, a former state Attorney General, a clear lead over Deeds, a state senator.

"The tightening of the race over the past two weeks comes from a shift in the views of voters who might change their minds," according to the poll analysis. "Currently, those voters are leaning in Deeds' direction."

North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall polls the strongest of three Democrats matched up against Republican Sen. Richard M. Burr in a new poll by Rasmussen Reports.

Marshall trails Burr by 10 percentage points - 38 percent to 48 percent -- among the likely voters who responded to the poll conducted Sept. 15. That's a better showing than 2nd District Rep. Bob Etheridge, who trailed Burr by 34 to 48 percent, as well as attorney Kenneth Lewis, who was behind by 32 percent to 48 percent.

Marshall and Lewis have both declared their candidacies, while Etheridge is still considering a bid.

One interesting wrinkle is that the Rasmussen poll found that far more North Carolinians had an opinion of Burr than did other recent polls.

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd has gained ground with independents when matched up against potential Republican opponent Rob Simmons, according to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted Sept. 10 to 14.

Dodd still trails Simmons among registered independents, 31 percent to 49 percent. But that's an improvement since July, when independent voters backed Simmons 56 to 27 percent. Independents are a crucial voting bloc in Connecticut, where they make up more than 40 percent of registered voters.

Overall, Simmons leads Dodd 44 percent to 39 percent, a drop from his 48 to 39 percent lead in July. Quinnipiac's findings echo a poll released earlier this week by Daily Kos/Research 2000 that showed Dodd closing within 4 percent of Simmons.

U.S. adults have serious misgivings about how President Obama is handling the government's ballooning budget deficit, with 58 percent saying they disapprove and 38 percent saying they approve, according to a Gallup poll taken Sept. 11-13.

The disapproval rating for the president is higher than his approval rating on two other issues, healthcare policy (52 percent to 43 percent) and the economy (51 percent to 46 percent), Gallup said.

On four other issues, his approval rating is higher than disapproval:

American adults doubt that President Obama can expand health care without boosting taxes on the middle class, and overwhelming majorities are ready to oppose plans that would result in higher taxes, according to a Gallup poll taken Sept. 11-13.

Fifty-six percent said they are not confident the Obama administration can cover the government's increased tab for health care by wringing savings out of Medicare and other government-financed health programs. Forty-three percent say they are confident the government can cover its health bills this way.

A 40 percent plurality of the poll's respondents say the proposed overhaul would improve coverage in the United States, but a similar number said it would not improve costs, insurance company behavior, or the overall quality of health care.

Former Rep. Rob Portman is leading among Ohio voters in the Republican primary to succeed retiring Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, according to a Quinnipiac University poll taken Sept. 10-13.

In the Democratic primary, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher leads Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner 26 percent to 17 percent, and in the Republican primary, Portman leads opponent Tom Ganley, a car dealer from Cleveland, 27 percent to 9 percent, Quinnipiac said.

In general election matchups, Democratic candidates have an advantage:

Republican Kelly Ayotte is leading Democratic Rep. Paul W. Hodes among unaffiliated voters in New Hampshire's Senate race, according to a Sept. 14 Rasmussen Reports poll of likely voters.

Ayotte, who served as the state's U.S. attorney until she resigned in July to focus on her Senate campaign, received 81 percent support from Republicans and Hodes received 81 percent support from Democrats, but Ayotte led Hodes among unaffiliated voters by 14 points.

In a hypothetical match-up of all voters, Ayotte led Hodes 46 percent to 38 percent with 5 percent of respondents indicating their preference for another candidate and 12 percent undecided. The poll's margin of error is 4.5 percentage points.

As Republican Rick Lazio prepares to officially enter New York's 2010 campaign for governor next Monday, members of his own party are split on whether they think he should run, according to a poll conducted Sept. 8 through 10 by the Marist Institute of Public Opinion.

Forty-three percent of registered Republican voters said they want Lazio to run, but another 43 percent said they don't. Among all voters regardless of party, just 30 percent thought Lazio should run for the seat held by politically struggling interim Democratic Gov. David A. Paterson.

In contrast, 81 percent of Republicans, and 58 percent of voters overall, said they want former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to run for governor. Giuliani, who bid unsuccessfully for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, is still mulling a campaign.

In a warning sign to Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, more voters view him unfavorably than favorably and he trails a leading Republican opponent, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey conducted September 15.

The survey of 500 likely voters found that 49 percent held a "somewhat unfavorable" or "very unfavorable" view of Bennet, who was appointed in January to the Senate seat that Democrat Ken Salazar vacated to become Interior Secretary in the Obama administration. Thirty-six percent of respondents said they have a somewhat favorable or a very favorable view of the senator.

Bennet trails Republican Jane Norton, who announced her candidacy on Tuesday, by 45 percent to 36 percent. Norton, a former Colorado lieutenant governor, is the best-known of a half-dozen Republicans who are challenging Bennet.

Fully 20 percent of Virginians surveyed don't know who they want as their next governor, according to a Clarus Research Group poll conducted Sept. 10-14.

The poll -- like other recent surveys that use different methodology -- found that Republican Bob McDonnell is leading Democrat Creigh Deeds.

The race for governor of Virginia has tightened somewhat, although Republican Bob McDonnell still leads Democratic opponent Creigh Deeds, The margin in this poll is pegged at 42 percent to 37 percent, with a much greater portion of undecideds than were identified in a Sept. 1 Rasmussen Reports poll.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is upside-down on his favorable-to-unfavorable number in a Rasmussen Reports survey conducted Sept. 14.

Of 500 likely Nevada voters surveyed, 54 percent said they have a somewhat or very unfavorable view of the Democratic leader, compared to a 45 percent favorable rating.

Looking at two potential Republican opponents, the survey found Reid trailing — a conclusion that largely comports with findings of previous surveys by DailyKos/Research 2000 and Mason Dixon Polling in conjunction with the Las Vegas Review Journal.

Harry Reid (CQ/Scott J. Ferrell)

Rasmussen found Reid trailing 40 percent to 50 percent against GOP state chairwoman Sue Lowden and 43 percent to 50 percent against Las Vegas real estate developer Danny Tarkanian. Tarkanian, son of legendary college basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, has officially declared his candidacy while Lowden is in exploratory mode. A handful of other Republican candidates are also running or considering the race.

Negative ratings for both New Jersey Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine and Republican challenger Chris Christie, a former U.S. attorney, have increased in the wake of campaign attacks, according to a Sept. 11-14 Public Policy Polling survey of state voters.

Christie’s unfavorable rating has risen from 32 percent seven weeks ago, according to PPP’s past survey, to 41 percent. Corzine’s 56 percent unfavorable rating is now at 60 percent. Christie also saw an increase in his favorability from 42 percent to 45 percent while Corzine saw a decrease from 33 percent to 32 percent. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

“Negative attacks appear to be succeeding in hurting both candidates’ standing with the voters,” Tom Jensen, spokesman for PPP, wrote in his online analysis.

Corzine recently released an ad which focused on improvements in the state’s economic climate, though it also hit out at Christie.

More people think their health care will get worse than believe it will improve if health insurance overhaul proposed by Democrats becomes law, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted Sept. 10-12.

This tepid public sentiment is similar to polling data from 1993 and 1994 when the Clinton administration was proposing comparable changes in the U.S. health care system.

Sixteen percent of the respondents to the most recent poll say their health care would improve if the proposed changes are enacted, and 32 percent say their health care will be worse if that happens.

By comparison, the same poll in late September of 1993 found 19 percent saying their health care would improve and 31 percent saying it would get worse.

Democratic Sen. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut has cut into the polling lead built by former Rep. Rob Simmons, his leading Republican rival -- or he hasn't, depending on which of the two latest polls you read.

Dodd trailed Simmons by 42 percent to 46 percent -- within the 4 percentage-point margin of error -- in a new poll conducted Sept. 8 through 10 for the liberal blog Daily Kos by independent polling firm Research 2000 and released Monday. Twelve percent of the respondents to the poll of likely voters are undecided.

But that result was in marked contrast to a Rasmussen poll -- also conducted Sept. 10 and released last week -- that showed Dodd trailing Simmons by 10 percentage points.

Republicans are viewed as obstructionists who are not making a good faith effort to cooperate with Democrats in the health care debate, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted Sept. 10-12.

The same poll found that half the respondents thought Democrats were making an honest effort to cooperate with Republicans on health care. Sixty-two percent of the respondents said the Republicans were not negotiating in good faith.

But if there is any political blowback from this, it's hard to find. People were evenly divided on whether they would vote for (22 percent) or against (23 percent) a congressional candidate who supports the Democrats' health overhaul plan, with 54 percent saying it would make no difference to them. Forty-nine percent said they think the two parties are equally to blame for the tone of the debate.

An increasing number of independents in New Jersey are describing themselves as undecided about the Nov. 3 race between Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine and former U.S. Attorney, Republican Chris Christie, according to a Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey poll of registered voters conducted Sept. 8-10.

The finding -- 17 percent of unaffiliated voters calling themselves uncertain, up from 12 percent in August -- is within the survey's error margin but "It could be a sign of increasing uncertainty about the challenger and bears watching," wrote Monmouth's Polling Institute's analysts wrote in their explanation of the poll.

The survey's overall margin of error is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points and for the smaller sample of likely voters, it is plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.

Not much changed for Sen. Christopher J. Dodd's re-election prospects over recent weeks, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll, conducted Sept. 10.

Dodd, who spent much of August recuperating from prostate cancer surgery, trails Republican Rob Simmons by a significant margin.

Simmons, a former three-term congressman, leads Dodd 49 percent to 39 percent among Connecticut voters, virtually identical to the 48 to 39 percent lead Simmons held in a Quinnipiac University poll conducted in late July.

Businessman and former Ireland Ambassador Tom Foley, a virtual unknown among Connecticut voters, also tops Dodd 43 percent to 40 percent, though it falls within the 4 percent margin of error. And Dodd runs virtually even with state Sen. Sam Caligiuri, who rounds out the field of declared GOP candidates, and investor Peter Schiff, who is considering a campaign but has not made a final decision.

Dodd's favorability rating held steady at 40 percent. Fifty-nine percent of Connecticut voters, meanwhile, had an unfavorable opinion of their five-term senator. A majority - 53 percent -- of voters have a favorable view of Simmons. Approximately a third have a favorable opinion about Foley, Caligiuri and Schiff, while another third or more had no opinion of any of them.

In the first hours after his "You Lie" outburst, voters in the South Carolina district of Rep. Joe Wilson weren't happy with him, according to a poll by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling conducted Sept. 10 and 11.

A strong majority - 62 percent -- said they disapproved of Wilson's outburst during the president's speech to a joint session of Congress.

The survey group, comprised of 747 people who voted in the 2004, 2006 and 2008 elections, was divided on whether the episode would make them less likely to vote to re-elect Wilson in 2010. Forty-nine percent said they're now less likely to vote for him while 35 percent said they now are more likely to back Wilson.

For 16 percent of the voters surveyed, Wilson's behavior at the joint session of Congress made no difference.

Democratic Rep. Bob Etheridge is within single digits of Republican Sen. Richard M. Burr in a hypothetical matchup for the 2010 North Carolina Senate race, according to a new survey by Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling conducted Sept. 2 through 8.

Etheridge -- who is not currently a Senate candidate but is reconsidering his earlier decision not to challenge Burr -- trailed the first-term incumbent by 34 percent to 41 percent with a quarter of voters undecided.

And among the Democrats matched up against Burr in the survey, Etheridge was the only one who led among self-identified moderate voters, a constituency that could very well decide who wins the election.

Etheridge, the centrist seven-term representative of the 2nd District in central North Carolina, is viewed by many Democratic insiders as their strongest potential challenger to Burr. But Etheridge's seniority has earned him a coveted seat on the influential House Ways and Means Committee, and he has admitted it would be tough to walk away from that.

The two major Colorado Democratic incumbents on 2010 statewide ballots face very difficult campaigns, according to a pair of Rasmussen Reports surveys conducted Wednesday.

Sen. Michael Bennet, who was appointed in January and is seeking a six-year term, is running about even with Aurora city councilman Ryan Frazier, who has 40 percent to Bennet's 39 percent.

And Bennet, who succeeded Democrat Ken Salazar when he became Interior Secretary, is running only slightly ahead of county district attorney Ken Buck, 43 percent to 37 percent.

The poll didn't test former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton, who is expected to announce next week her candidacy for the Republican nomination, or several lesser-known Republicans who also say they'll run for the Senate seat.

The public has gained confidence in the Democratic Party's ability to protect the country from terrorism, but Republicans still lead with roughly the same level of confidence they held a year after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, according to a Gallup poll taken Aug. 31-Sept. 2.

Republicans' standing in public confidence is 49 percent, statistically the same as it was the first time the question was asked on the one-year anniversary of the attacks, when it was 50 percent, Gallup said. Democrats gained an edge for two years in the middle of the decade when President George W. Bush's was at low ebb but have now fallen back to 42 percent.

In 2002, public confidence in Democrats to combat terrorism was 31 percent.

Although a slim majority of U.S. adults have faith in their state governments, this is down sharply from the margins held in recent years, according to a Gallup poll conducted Aug. 31-Sept. 2.

Sixty-seven percent of adults reported having a great deal or a fair amount of trust in state government from 2004 through 2008, but that has dropped to 51 percent this year, Gallup said.

The reason may be the recession, which has caused state governments to struggle with keeping their budgets balanced with their revenues are falling.

Not even a rash of ethics attacks on his Republican opponent has nudged New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine into positive approval territory, a Rasmussen poll shows.

Corzine's standing against Republican Chris Christie have him on the losing end, 46 percent to 38 percent, the Sept. 9 poll of 500 likely votes indicated.

Independent candidate Chris Daggett, a former EPA official, received an additional 6 percent in the survey and 10 percent of respondents indicated no preference. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

Democrats recently struck out at Christie for failing to disclose a $46,000 loan he made to a colleague at the U.S. attorney's office. The colleague, Michele Brown, has since resigned.

Corzine, who is seeking a second term, has been mired in low approval ratings for some time, as state residents have expressed concern over the New Jersey's tough economic climate, unemployment, and high property taxes. Corzine received a 40 percent job approval rating and a 57 percent job disapproval rating in the survey.

A Democratic poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Sept. 8-9 paints a somewhat rosier picture for Corzine, showing him trailing Christie by 41 percent to 38 percent. The poll of 615 likely voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

CQ Politics rates the race Leans Republican.

To follow the 2009 and 2010 governors' races, check out CQ Politics' election map.

-- Rachel Kapochunas

In yet another measure of the low regard people have for Congress, just 45 percent of American adults say they trust the government's legislative branch, according to a Gallup poll conducted Aug. 31-Sept. 2.

That puts Congress in third place, behind the federal courts (76 percent) and the executive branch (61 percent).

Gallup also polled at the same time on approval ratings, and Congress came in third there, too, with 31 percent.

U.S. adults -- by a margin of 79 percent to 20 percent -- say they want Congress to pass a health care overhaul plan that wins support from both Democrats and Republicans, according to an Associated Press-GfK.

If the two political parties can't reach agreement, two-thirds of the people responding to the poll said they should keep negotiating until they do.

That said, adults in this country seems less than lukewarm about what they've seen proposed so far to fix the nation's system of health insurance and medical care, with 34 percent saying they support what they have seen and while 49 percent oppose the proposed plans.

Attorney General Martha Coakley starts the special election race to fill the Senate seat of the late Edward M. Kennedy with a significant advantage in voter familiarity, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey conducted Sept. 8.

Coakley, who declared her candidacy Sept. 3, registered support from 38 percent of likely Democratic voters -- a big lead over likely Democratic opponents Stephen F. Lynch and Michael E. Capuano, both congressmen from the Boston area. The survey found that Lynch would start with support from 11 percent of likely Democratic primary voters and Capuano, 7 percent.

The dean of the Massachusetts congressional delegation, 17-term Rep. Ed Markey, who is still mulling a run, had the backing of 10 percent of likely Democratic voters polled.

Rep. John F. Tierney, who is also looking at the campaign, came in at 3 percent.

The Supreme Court is Americans' favorite branch of government - at least until it hands down a controversial ruling - according to a Gallup poll conducted Aug. 31-Sept. 2.

The court has a 61 percent approval rating, while the president is at 54 percent and Congress is 31 percent, Gallup said.

"The improved ratings of the Supreme Court evident in 2009 are the result of surging approval from Democrats and slightly improved ratings from independents," Gallup said. "Republicans' support for the court is lower than it was a year ago, but not by nearly as much as the increase seen among Democrats."

Bad news for labor unions on the day after Labor Day: 48 percent of the people in this country think unions have outlived their usefulness and 45 percent say they have weakened the country, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Aug. 30-31.

The poll also found people pretty evenly divided on whether Americans work as hard as other workers, with 30 percent saying Americans work harder and 36 percent saying they work less.

Seventy-six percent say they buy American-made products to support the U.S. work force, while 10 percent say they do not.

The poll was based on telephone interviews with 1,000 adults nationwide and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Americans continue to have a hard time sorting out how they feel about health care overhaul plans before Congress, according to a Gallup poll conducted Aug. 31-Sept. 2.

Despite that, nearly two-thirds of the people responding to the poll say their vote for Congress in 2010 will be based on whether they agree with how their representatives voted on the issue.

Everybody clear?

Americans have conflicted views of the war in Afghanistan, with 61 percent saying that military action there was not a mistake, although 61 percent of those answering a separate question said that war is going badly, according to a Gallup poll conducted Aug 31-Sept. 2.

However, 54 percent of Democrats responding to the survey said the war there was a mistake, disagreeing with majorities of independents and Republicans who said it was not a mistake.

Also Democrats were more likely to conclude that the war in Afghanistan was going badly. Sixty-nine percent of Democrats drew that conclusion, compared with 50 percent of Republicans and 60 percent of independents.

A new poll conducted Aug. 30-Sept. 2 from DailyKos and Research 2000 confirms that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is in trouble going into his 2010 re-election.

Though he still has more than a year until he faces Nevada voters, the fact that this poll and one conducted in August show him trailing relatively no-name GOP opponents is bound to be troubling for Reid and his allies.

In a hypothetical head-to-head match-up, Reid trails declared Republican challenger Danny Tarkanian 40 percent to 45 percent, just clearing the 4 percent margin of error, with 15 percent undecided. Tarkanian, a Las Vegas real estate developer and son of famed college basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, lost his two previous attempts at elected office — in 2006 in the race for Nevada secretary of State and in 2004 for state Senate. Forty-seven percent of respondents, however, hold a favorable opinion of Tarkanian; 25 percent have no opinion.

Reid also trails Sue Lowden, who just announced Wednesday night that she is resigning her post as state party chairwoman as she explores a Senate bid. Lowden’s lead - 44 percent to 41 percent - is within the margin of error, however. A third of voters have yet to form an opinion of the former state senator, who lost her last campaign for political office, for state Senate in 1996. Forty-three percent held a favorable view of Lowden.

As former Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber prepares his comeback bid in Oregon, a Sept. 1 SurveyUSA poll shows registered voters retain a positive opinion of him, with a favorable rating of 33 percent and an unfavorable rating of 26 percent.

An additional 26 percent of respondents were neutral and 15 percent expressed no opinion of Kitzhaber. The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.

Kitzhaber, who served as governor from 1995 to 2003, announced Wednesday he will run for the open seat in 2010. Democratic Gov. Theodore R. Kulongoski is term-limited.

Kitzhaber became the instant Democratic front-runner upon his entry to the race, though he may face strong primary competition. Bill Bradbury, Oregon’s former secretary of State, has been preparing a potential campaign. SurveyUSA’s poll showed Bradbury’s favorable rating at 21 percent and unfavorable at 20 percent. But most voters surveyed had no opinion (26 percent) or were neutral (33 percent) regarding Bradbury.

Members of Congress hosting town-hall meetings with their constituents should clam up and listen instead of doing most of the talking, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Aug. 31-Sept. 1.

Fifty-six percent of the respondents said it's more important for the members of Congress to hear what their constituents have on their minds than to explain the legislation. Thirty-seven percent say they want to hear from their representatives.

Forty-nine percent say they hold a favorable view of members of Congress who oppose overhauling the health care system, and 59 percent say the protesters at town hall meetings are citizens expressing legitimate concerns, while 30 percent say they are planted at the meetings by lobbyists and interest groups.

The results are drawn from telephone interviews with 1,000 likely voters nationwide and carry a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

He's not beloved by Pennsylvanians, but Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter holds an early lead over his two chief challengers in the 2010 election, according to a survey conducted Aug. 25-31.

The Franklin & Marshall College poll of 562 registered voters found that in a 2010 primary matchup, Specter is favored by 37 percent versus 11 percent for Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak.

Six percent of Democratic respondents said they were supporting some other candidate in the May primary (state Rep. Bill Kortz also is running), while 46 percent said they weren't sure who they would back.

Adults asked for a party affiliation aren’t saying “Democrat” as often, according to Gallup surveys conducted Aug. 1-31.

During August, Gallup said, an average of 45 percent of Americans identifed themselves as Democrats or leaning to the Democratic Party — a 7-point drop since January.

The poll found that 40 percent of those surveyed identified themselves as Republicans or leaning to the Republican Party.

Back in January — the month Barack Obama was sworn into office — that gap in party identification was 17 percentage points. Now the Democratic advantage is 5 points, according to Gallup’s telephone surveys of 31,174 adults.

Has Bob McDonnell, the Republican nominee for governor of Virginia in the Nov. 3 election, suffered much political damage over some controversial social policy views he expressed in a graduate thesis 20 years ago?

A Rasmussen Reports survey conducted Sept. 1, two days after McDonnell's thesis was first reported by The Washington Post, suggests that he has not, at least for now.

The poll of 500 likely voters has McDonnell leading Democratic state Sen. Creigh Deeds by 51 percent to 42 percent, or virtually the same result as a Rasmussen survey last month that had McDonnell ahead by 49 percent to 41 percent.

While slightly more than half of Americans said they currently oppose President Obama's health care overhaul proposal, almost the same number agree that some kind of overhaul is needed, according to a CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted Aug. 28-31.

The telephone survey of 1,010 adults found that 51 percent of those polled said they oppose Obama's plan and 45 percent said they favor it.

To the question, "Do you think the country's health care system needs a great deal of reform, only some reform, or no reform at all?" 45 percent said, a "great deal," 46 percent said, "only some," and 7 percent favored no changes to the current system.

Obama has scheduled a Sept. 9 address to a joint session of Congress and renew his call to pass legislation retooling the health insurance market this year. He is likely to more thoroughly detail his expectations for an overhaul, including what he deems an acceptable fallback to a public insurance plan that would compete against private insurers.

Nothing like an economic mess to make workers appreciate their jobs. A poll conducted Aug. 14-18 by Clarus Research Group found that 88 percent of U.S. workers are happy with their employment.

"In these tough times of high unemployment and uncertainty, many workers are happy that they have jobs," said Clarus President Ron Faucheux. "However, despite the nationwide results, there were important differences among population groups, especially based on age, race, education and region."

Here's who we are and how happy we are:

The country is split over whether the government needs to get into the health insurance business, with 49 percent favoring such a move and 46 percent opposing it, according to an Ipsos/McClatchy poll conducted Aug. 27-31.

However, a wide majority, 75 percent, said they favored "making gradual but continuous improvements," while 22 percent said they supported "fixing everything at once." A similar majority, 74 percent, say they favored government involvement in regulations that protect consumer rights, such as portability of health coverage, while 15 percent would oppose it.

The poll was based on telephone interviews with 1,057 adults nationwide and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

The news isn't good at the moment for members of Congress hoping to hang onto their jobs next year. A poll conducted Aug. 20-27 by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found favorable public opinion toward the Congress, now at 37 percent, to be at its lowest point in more than 20 years.

The poll also found that 52 percent of respondents had an unfavorable opinion of Congress.

Democrats, who control both houses of Congress, are bearing the brunt of the public's wrath.

The Gallup organization set itself on a quest to find and study a pair of rare political creatures: conservative, white Democrats and liberal, white Republicans.

First, the numbers. Conservative, white Democrats account for 5.6 percent of the adult white population identifying itself as Democratic, and moderate/liberal, white Republicans are 10.7 percent of the population of white Republicans.

Aside from their scarcity, they have a couple of other things in common, according to Gallup: they make less money, and they have poorer educations than the majority of other white members of their respective parties.

If you're confused about what health care reforms would do and how they would work, you have plenty of company, according to a CBS News poll conducted Aug. 27-31.

The poll found that 67 percent of adults admitted they found the proposals confusing. Majorities of Republicans (69 percent) and Democrats (58 percent) say they're stumped about the mechanics of the proposed overhaul.

Sixty percent of those surveyed said that President Obama has not explained his plan clearly, a sentiment drawing majorities of Republicans and independents. A slight majority of Democrats say the president has made his case clearly.

A longer perspective on public perceptions of the quality of health care might explain some of President Obama’s obstacles in selling an overhaul plan, Gallup concluded based on polling from 2006-08.

The analysis of the aggregate data found only slight differences in how people enrolled in government plans vs. those with private insurance rated the quality of care received and little difference in how they rated their coverage.

Gallup found that whether it’s public or private insurance, most people are satisfied with their plans: 87 percent of people with private insurance and 82 percent of people on Medicare or Medicaid said the quallity of their health care is good or excellent.

Similarly, 75 percent of those with private plans and 74 percent on government-run plans rate their plans as excellent or good.

Voters are in an anti-incumbent mood, giving a slight edge to Republicans running for Congress next year, according to a Public Policy Polling survey conducted Aug. 27-30.

Forty-five percent of voters surveyed said they would vote for the Republican candidate for the House or Senate if the election were held now, and 41 percent said they would vote for the Democrat, PPP said.

Forty-seven percent of voters responding to the survey said they would vote for the incumbent, a figure that is usually around 60 percent, PPP said.

Republican Bob McDonnell leads Democrat Creigh Deeds by seven percentage points in the Nov. 3 race for the Virginia governorship, according to a Public Policy Polling survey conducted August 28 through August 31 and released on Tuesday.

McDonnell had 49 percent and Deeds had 42 percent in the survey, which began interviewing 596 likely voters before a August 30 report in The Washington Post about a master's thesis McDonnell wrote two decades ago that promotes conservative views on social issues.

With nine weeks remaining until Election Day, 86 percent of respondents said that they were "solidly committed" to their choice for governor, with the remaining voters saying they could change their minds.

So here's another thing Democrats and Republicans don't agree on: how Republicans in Congress should think and behave.

Seventy-four percent of Republican voters surveyed by Rasmussen Reports Aug. 29-30 said their senators and members of Congress are out of touch with the base.

Fifty-five percent complained that Republicans in Congress are more liberal than the people who sent them to Washington.

While a plurality of American voters say the United States is winning the war on terror, public opinion is becoming tinged with pessimism about whether the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan will improve in the next six months, according to a poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports Aug. 29-30.

Forty-two percent of the likely voters responding to the poll said America and its allies were winning the war on terror, but 25 percent said the terrorists were winning.

Fifty-five percent of Rasmussen's sample said they expected the situation in Afghanistan to get worse in the next six months and 39 percent conditions in Iraq will deteriorate. Those figures represent pessimism rising 14 percentage points for Afghanistan since the beginning of August and up 10 percentage points for Iraq during the same period.

With two months remaining until New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine stands for re-election, the incumbent continues to trail his Republican challenger, Chris Christie,, according to independent polls conducted by Quinnipiac University Aug. 25-30 and Fairleigh Dickinson University conducted Aug. 24-30.

Christie leads Corzine 47 percent to 42 percent in the Farleigh Dickinson PublicMind poll of 715 likely voters. The poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, showed that New Jersey voters continue to hold concerns about the state's future. Nearly half of those surveyed, 49 percent, say the state is on the wrong track and 38 percent responded that it's headed the right way.

Voters have pinned blame for the state's struggling economy on Corzine, which has contributed to the Democratic governor's low personal approval ratings and the difficulty he faces in his re-election contest this year.