Satisfaction with the size and influence of the federal government has reached a record low of 29 percent among Americans, according to a new Gallup poll gauging the mood of potential voters in this year’s elections. The telephone survey of 1,011 adults taken Jan. 5-8, also found satisfaction among Americans concerning the influence of major corporations has hit a near all-time low of 30 percent.
The findings, according to Gallup officials, make both the government and big business “highly susceptible targets for politicians and presidential candidates in this election year.”
For Republicans, so-called “big government” has always been an attractive foil — whether on the campaign trail or in Congress trying to curb spending in battles over the budget. For Democrats, big corporations and their lobbying efforts aimed at influencing legislation have been easy targets.
According to Gallup, those partisan views were reflected in the latest survey: Those who identified themselves as Republicans tended to be less positive about the government than Democrats. For example, only 16 percent of Republican respondents said they were satisfied with government, while 84 percent said they most definitely were not satisfied with the size and power of Washington over their lives.
On the Democratic side, 49 percent said they were satisfied with the size of government.
As expected, the Gallup survey found that Democrats were more dissatisfied with corporations — with 71 percent expressing their displeasure over the size and scope of their influence.
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