State Sen. Scott Brown (R) tops 50 percent of the vote in the Massachusetts Senate special election, according to a survey of likely voters conducted over the weekend by Public Policy Polling.

Brown, who just weeks ago was considered a considerable long-shot for the seat, leads Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) 51 to 46 percent, with 4 percent undecided. The margin of error is 2.8 percent.

And though Brown's unfavorable rating has grown, he is still viewed favorably by far more likely voters -- 56 percent have a favorable view of him compared to 37 percent with an unfavorable view.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) has taken a major hit in public opinion as a direct result of his support for health care reform legislation, an Omaha World-Herald poll found.

According to the statewide survey of 500 registered Nebraska voters conducted Jan. 8-12, Nelson's job approval rating has sunk to 42 percent, with 48 percent disapproving. That stood in stark contrast to Sen. Mike Johanns' (R-Neb.) 63 percent approval rating; Johanns has consistently opposed the Democrats' health care agenda.

Overall, 60 percent of Nebraskans oppose the health care reform bills that passed the House and Senate late last year. The poll found that voters' attitudes regarding Nelson's support for the Senate bill broke along party lines, with three-quarters of Republicans opposing his vote, while only 22 percent of Democrats felt similarly.

The poll was conducted by Omaha-based Wiese Research Associates and has an error margin of 4.4 points. The survey data was obtained via telephone interviews.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) standing in his home state has hit a new low, and his ownership of the Democrats' health care overhaul is hurting, not helping.

Fifty-two percent of registered Nevada voters now have an unfavorable opinion of Reid, while just 33 percent have a favorable view, according to a poll conducted Jan. 5 through 7 by Mason-Dixon polling for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The margin of error was 4 percent.

And just 35 percent of Nevada voters support the Democrats' health care overhaul legislation, a 4 point drop since December. Fifty-four percent oppose it, including 62 percent of independents and 89 percent of Republicans.

Sixty percent of voters disapprove of Reid's efforts to shepherd the bill through the Senate; 33 percent approve.

More than three-quarters of voters believe health care overhaul legislation will cost more than projected, a new Rasmussen Reports survey says, and more than half believe the legislation will increase the federal budget deficit.

The telephone poll of 1,000 voters, conducted Dec. 28, showed 78 percent believe the cost of the overhaul will exceed the projections, while 14 percent believe it will not,

On the deficit, 68 percent believe the plan will increase the deficit and only 11 percent say it will achieve its goal of deficit reduction. Also, 81 percent think the eventual plan -- which will be worked out in a House-Senate conference committee -- is somewhat likely to lead to higher taxes for the middle class.

Fifty-three percent of voters say the cost of care is the biggest health care problem that needs to be addressed. Among this group, 89 percent say the proposed legislation is likely to exceed cost expectations, 79 percent believe the plan will increase deficits, and 90 percent think it could lead to higher taxes for the middle class. Lack of universal coverage is the biggest health care problem cited by 23 percent of those surveyed and 13 percent cite quality of care.

Even with most voters wondering what health care overhaul will mean in 2010, the economy and government ethics and corruption are their top concerns, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey.

The national telephone survey of 1,000 voters, conducted Dec. 22-23, showed 81 percent consider the economy a very important issue, closely followed by government ethics, considered very important by 79 percent of respondents.

In October, for the first time in two years, voters rated government ethics and corruption as more important than the economy. Voters viewed the two issues evenly in November and December 2007 before placing a higher priority on the economy starting in January 2008. Last month, however, the economy bounced back into the lead.

Health care comes in third place, rated very important by 75 percent of voters, up from 66 percent in November.

Voters strongly believe that legislation currently before Congress would have a significant impact on their lives, a new Rasmussen Reports survey indicates.

The national telephone survey of 1,000 voters, conducted Dec. 28, found 74 percent believe that assessment, up from 52 percent in June, when the health care debate was just getting started. In January 2007, when Democrats regained control of Congress, the perception was measured at 65 percent.

This comes at a time when two-thirds of voters say health care overhaul is likely to pass but most voters oppose the legislation.

In terms of impact on their lives, 86 percent said it is important whether Republicans or Democrats control Congress. That figure includes 57 percent who say it is very important which party is in control. Along party lines, 67 percent of Republicans said it is very important which party controls Congress, compared with 57 percent of Democrats and 46 percent of unaffiliated voters.

More than two-thirds of voters expect that health care overhaul legislation will be enacted but support for the initiative remains low, a new Rasmussen Reports survey shows.

The national telephone survey of 1,000 voters, conducted Dec. 27, shows 67 percent now expect that health care reform legislation will become law. That percentage is up from 49 percent before the Senate passed its version of the legislation on Christmas Eve - and by far the highest level of expectation yet measured. Less than one-quarter, 22 percent, now consider passage of the plan unlikely.

However, while expectations for passage have risen dramatically, support for the plan has not. Just 40 percent now favor it while 55 percent are opposed; those figures are essentially unchanged from a week ago.

Most voters, 63 percent, said they believe an overhaul will increase health care costs, up from 58 percent a week ago. In September, the number who expected the health care plan to increase the cost of care stayed a few points above or below the 50 percent level. Only 13 percent now believe the proposal will achieve its stated goal of reducing the cost of health care.

A majority of voters are worried that the federal government will do too much, instead of not enough, when it comes to fixing the country's economic woes, according to a recent Rasmussen Reports survey.

In a automated telephone survey of 1,000 voters conducted Dec. 20-21, 52 percent of respondents said they think the government will do too much in reaction to the economic problems while 35 percent said the federal government will do enough. Thirteen percent were undecided. The poll's margin of error was 3 points.

By comparison, when President Barack Obama took office in January 48 percent of those polled said they were worried about too much government and 40 percent said that the federal government would not do enough.

The poll found that 30 percent of voters believe the $787 billion economic stimulus plan has been effective in boosting the economy. However the survey represents the first time since the legislation passed in February that a plurality of respondents held a negative view of the bill. Thirty-eight percent said that the stimulus has hurt the economy, but a week after the bill was signed 34 percent said it would help the economy.

Meanwhile, just 29 percent said the economy is getting better while 47 percent said that it is getting worse. Voters believe that cutting the federal deficit in half by the end of Obama's first term should be the president's number one budget priority. The second priority, voters said, is health care reform. But the health care proposal currently moving through Congress is opposed by most Americans.

A new poll released Tuesday shows American voters "mostly disapprove" of the health care reform plan that the Senate is prepared to vote on, by a 53 percent to 36 percent margin.

Fifty-six percent of voters disapprove of President Obama's handling of the health care issue, compared to 38 percent ho approve, according to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted Dec. 15-20.

Part of the opposition to the health care plan currently before the Senate stems from voters' support for a public health insurance option. In the same poll, voters opposed by a 72 percent to 23 percent margin using any public money in the health care overhaul to pay for abortions.

The poll also found that voters are dissatisfied with Obama's handling of the economy, though they support his plan to use $200 billion left over from the bank bailout for a new stimulus package to create jobs rather than to reduce the budget deficit.

Most Americans oppose the health care legislation working its way through Congress, a new Rasmussen poll shows, but a large number also believe the overhaul is something the federal government should be dealing with.

In the telephone survey of 1,500 voters conducted Nov. 29, 42 percent believe the federal government should be addressing health care while 23 percent prefer efforts at the state government level -- while 17 percent would like to see both the state and federal government take part in the process.

Of those polled, 15 percent said they don't want either state or federal efforts addressing health care overhaul.

Along party lines, 42 percent of Republicans want health care overhaul addressed at the state level while 26 percent said they don't want it addressed at all. Among Democrats, 63 percent prefer the federal government taking a role in health care and 18 percent want both the federal and state governments involved.

Among unaffiliated voters, 43 percent prefer the federal government in charge, while 23 percent said both federal and state.

Most voters oppose the health care plan currently before Congress at least partly because they believe it will increase the deficit and lead to middle class tax hikes.

The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.