Poll: Dem attack on secret money is resonating

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Thu Oct-21-10 09:43 AM
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Poll: Dem attack on secret money is resonating

Poll: Dem attack on secret money is resonating

As promised, MSNBC's First Read gang releases its NBC/WSJ polling showing that voters do care about the secret cash funding attack ads, despite all the assertions you keep hearing to the contrary:

So how has the White House/Democratic campaign against the GOP-leaning outside groups that have been spending so much on TV ads this midterm cycle fared? Per our poll, 74% say it's a concern that outside groups have their own agenda and care only about electing or defeating candidates based on their own issues; 72% say it's a concern that these groups don't have to disclose who's contributing to them; 71% say it's a concern that the candidates who are helped by these groups could be beholden to their interests; and 68% say they're concerned these groups are funded by unions or large corporations.

First Read's Mark Murray ads this caveat: "Despite these concerns, our pollsters say that the White House/Dem campaign against these outside groups hasn't changed the overall dynamics of this election."

And yet he notes that it seems clear that the Dem campaign may have shifted underlying attitudes:

That said, there has been this shift in our poll: 45% of registered voters say Democrats in Congress are more concerned about the interests of average Americas, versus 41% who think they're more concerned about large corporations. That's a change from May when 52% thought congressional Dems were more concerned about large corporations and 35% said they were more concerned about average Americans. By comparison, 68% in our current poll say Republicans in Congress are more concerned about large corporations, which is essentially unchanged from May. And 53% say President Obama is more concerned about the interests of average Americans, versus 31% who think he's more concerned about large corporations.

Again: No one ever expected this attack line to produce an immediate and dramatic turnaround in Dem fortunes. And it very well may be that the above shifts in public attitudes aren't enough to substantially limit Dem losses in an environment where the economy trumps all.

But every little bit helps, and it's very clear that the Dem attacks on secret money are resonating to some degree. Large majorities say they're concerned about the secret cash and worry that candidates benefiting from the ads will be beholden to the special interests spending it. And larger numbers now say Dems are more interested in looking out for the interests of average Americans, while a big majority says Republicans are more concerned about corporations. Separately, as I noted yesterday, this campaign against the secret cash very likely helped fuel Dem fundraising.

Put it this way: If we can't cite the above polling as a clear sign that Dems are right to be pursuing this line, I'm not sure there's anything we could ever cite that people would accept as evidence supporting that notion.

This should bolster the calls for transparency.