Venture Capital Firms Better at Creating Jobs Than Government, Poll Finds

The Obama campaign’s attack on Mitt Romney’s business record hasn’t changed the belief that venture capital firms like the one Romney worked for are better job creators than government programs like the ones championed by the president.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 57 percent of likely voters believe venture capital companies are better at creating jobs than government programs are.

Just 27 percent think government programs are a better way to create jobs. Seventeen percent are unsure.

Predictably, there’s a wide partisan difference of opinion when it comes to who’s the best job creator.

Eighty-three percent of Republicans and 60 percent of unaffiliated voters consider venture capital firms better job creators than government programs. A plurality in the president’s party — 47 percent — see government programs as the better approach.

These results are consistent with the voter belief that decisions made by business leaders to help their own businesses grow will do more to help create jobs in America than will decisions made by government officials.

Most conservatives and moderates put more trust in venture capital companies to grow jobs. Most liberals have more faith in government programs.

Eighty-two percent of the "political class" think government programs are the better way to create jobs, but 65 percent of "mainstream" voters believe in venture capital firms instead.

The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted on July 13-14, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports, and carried a 3 percent margin of error.

These attitudes about venture capital funds and job creation have changed little since January. Similar results also were found in May.

However, the Obama campaign attacks have increased negative perceptions of Romney’s business track record.

Romney has been criticized because some of the companies Bain Capital invested in did not succeed, and a sizable number of workers lost their jobs. But Romney has countered by citing success stories such as the Staples office supply chain and others Bain invested in that produced thousands of new jobs.

Seventy percent of all Americans think a free-market economy works better than one managed by the government.