As I travel throughout the United States covering campaign events this season, I always try to gauge how Americans are feeling about election 2012, whether it means striking up a conversation with a cab driver, or paying attention to what people are complaining or expressing concerns about. One argument I hear quite often is this: I don't care who is elected as long as they do the right thing.
I receive this response after I ask which political party the individual usually votes for and get the impression this particular response is given in order to avoid a confrontational conversation about the differences between the two main political parties in this country. However, despite many Americans using the "party doesn't matter" line to avoid a conversation about politics, a new Rasmussen Report shows the majority of voters believe party does matter when it comes to who controls Congress and the truth is, politicains are influenced heavily by other members of their party when making policy decisions.
Voters overwhelmingly believe it’s important to their lives which political party controls Congress, but Republicans feel more strongly than Democrats about it.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 77% of all Likely U.S. Voters think it is at least somewhat important in terms of its impact on their own lives whether Republicans or Democrats control Congress. That includes 49% who say it is Very Important. Just 13% believe it’s not very or not at all important which party has majority control on Capitol Hill, with another 10% who are undecided.
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Now, with the rise of the tea party, and what Sarah Palin calls the "permanent political class" in Washington implementing bad policies on both sides of the aisle over the years, the argument of not voting simply on party name is valid. It's the principles in each party that matter and at least on the GOP side over the years, establishment republicans have drifted far away from conservative principles voters used to be able to believe in and count on.
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