Midterm Election Updates

What to do About the Bush Tax Cuts

With debate in Washington heating up over whether to continue the tax cuts enacted during George W. Bush's administration, public opinion remains divided. About three-in-ten (29%) say all of the tax cuts should remain in place — the position of GOP leaders in Congress, while the same percentage (29%) say tax cuts for the wealthy should be repealed while those for the less affluent remain in place, the position taken by the Obama administration; another 28% say they think all of the Bush-era tax cuts should be repealed.

The latest Pew Research/National Journal Congressional Connection poll, sponsored by SHRM, conducted Sept. 9-12 among 1,001 adults, finds little change in public opinion about the tax cuts since July. A plurality of Republicans (47%) support keeping all of the Bush tax cuts; just 16% of Democrats do so. Democrats are somewhat divided between supporting repeal of the tax cuts for the wealthy — while maintaining those for everyone else (40%) — and supporting repeal of all the tax cuts (32%). Independent opinion is divided among the three options (30% keep all tax cuts, 28% repeal only those for the wealthy, 31% repeal all the tax cuts).

Those with higher annual family incomes are more inclined to support maintaining the Bush tax cuts in their current form. About four-in-ten (39%) of those with incomes of $75,000 or more say all of the cuts should be maintained. By comparison, about one-in-three (29%) of those with incomes between $30,000 and $74,999 say this, as do just 19% of those with incomes of $30,000 or less.

GOP Still Viewed as Leaderless -- Even by Republicans

As the midterm election campaign heats up, the public continues to see no clear leader atop the Republican Party. Only a quarter offer a name when asked who they think of as the leader of the party these days. More than half say they do not know and 18% volunteer that "nobody" leads the party.

Those numbers are little changed since the question was last asked in April.

The latest Pew Research/National Journal Congressional Connection poll, sponsored by SHRM, conducted Sept. 9-12 among 1,001, finds that Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin each are mentioned by 5% of the public. Beyond the 2008 presidential ticket, another 4% mention House Minority Leader John Boehner, who could become speaker if Republicans take control of the House in the elections. Mentions of Boehner have risen from 1% in April.

Among Republicans, a third (33%) offer a name, but more than half (54%) say they don't know and 13% say nobody is the current leader. The most frequently offered names largely match those offered by the public as a whole: 6% offer McCain, while 5% each name Palin or Boehner. Just 1% offered Boehner in April. Another 4% each mention former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney or former Speaker Newt Gingrich.

View the topline and survey methodology at people-press.org.

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