http://www.newsmax.com/PrintTemplate.aspx/?nodeid=585445Newsmax
Poll: Voters Say Obama Should Stay Off Campaign Trail
Tuesday, July 29, 2014 07:40 AM
By: Melanie Batley
President Barack Obama should stay off the campaign trail if Democrats are to hold on to their seats in the House in November, a new poll has found.
According to a Fox News poll conducted July 20-22 of 1,057 registered voters, 57 percent said that if they were running for office as a Democrat this year they would not want Obama to campaign for them. Just 41 percent of voters would want Obama by their side on the campaign trail.
In 2010, the "wave election" when Republicans picked up 63 seats in the House, 48 percent of all voters said they would want the president to campaign for them if they were the Democratic candidate, compared to 50 percent who said they would have preferred he stay in the background.
Among Democrats four years ago, a full 82 percent said they would want Obama to campaign on their behalf. Today, 69 percent of Democrats said they would want the president to help their campaign.
Meanwhile, the survey also found that 43 percent of voters would support the Democratic candidate in their district, compared to 41 percent who would support the Republican.
The results remain virtually unchanged since last month when the parties were tied at 42 percent. In early June, the GOP had a 4 percent advantage but in May, Democrats were ahead by 3 points.
"The Republicans have the upper hand at this point, although it's a little weaker than in 2010," said Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who jointly conducted the poll with Democratic pollster Chris Anderson.
"Their main problem is that there are far fewer vulnerable Democratic seats to pick off this time around."
The survey's results suggest it's too soon to tell whether the 2014 midterm elections will be another wave election as numerous pundits have predicted, Fox said.
The poll also indicated that Republicans have a significantly higher interest in the upcoming elections than Democrats. Specifically, 70 percent of Republicans say they are extremely or very interested in the election, compared to 56 percent of Democrats.
And among those interested in the election, the results show that the GOP candidate would have a seven-point lead over the Democratic contender at 47 percent compared to 40 percent, a 3-point increase since last month.
At the same point in the cycle in 2010, the Republican candidate had an 11-point advantage over the Democratic candidate, a time when Obama's job approval rating was slightly higher than today's.
Fox noted that in the generic ballot before the 2010 midterms, Republican candidates also had a seven-point lead among registered voters.
Meanwhile, the job approval for Congress has dipped to a dramatic low with just 13 percent of voters giving lawmakers a positive job approval rating compared to 79 percent who disapprove, the poll found.
