Zogby International

Released: February 26, 2009

Zogby Poll: Just 27% Believe They Will Benefit From Economic Stimulus Bill

Survey finds likely voters favor proposals from Democrats over those from Republicans, but 23% have little confidence in ideas from either party

UTICA, New York - Just 27% of likely voters are optimistic the recently passed federal economic stimulus bill will personally benefit them or their family, a new Zogby Interactive poll shows.

More than half - 56% - are doubtful the stimulus package will personally help them, and another 17% are unsure. While nearly half of Democrats (48%) believe they will benefit from the stimulus, few political independents (19%) and even fewer Republicans (7%) believe they will be helped. The vast majority of Republicans (88%) and most independents (62%) remain skeptical they personally stand to gain from the new stimulus bill, compared to just 26% of Democrats who said the same. Higher levels of optimism for the stimulus bill were found among the youngest adults, age 18-24, who were more likely (38%) than older adults to believe it would benefit them or their family. Just 16% of those age 65 and older felt the same. The Zogby Interactive survey of 1,474 likely voters nationwide was conducted Feb. 23-24, 2009, and was completed before President Barack Obama's address to a joint meeting of Congress on the state of the U.S. economy Tuesday night. It carries a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points.

*Do you believe the recently passed federal economic stimulus bill will benefit you or your family?*	Likely voters	Democrats	Republicans	Independents
Yes	27%	48%	7%	19%
No	56%	26%	88%	62%
Not sure	17%	26%	6%	19%
Note: Some totals may not equal 100% due to rounding

Democrats seen as having better economic stimulus ideas than Republicans, but many remain dissatisfied with proposals from both sides of the aisle

Overall, more than a third of likely voters (36%) said they believe proposals from Democrats to stimulate the economy have been better than ideas offered up by Republicans (27%) - but nearly one in four (23%) said neither party had offered up the better ideas. It comes as no surprise that majorities of both Republicans and Democrats believe their own parties have offered the best ideas, but political independents are split, giving slight preference to ideas from Democrats (29%) over those brought up by Republicans (24%). These political independents are also more than twice as likely (41%), compared to Democrats (13%) and Republicans (20%), to say neither party has offered the better ideas to stimulate the economy.

*Based on what you know about the two political parties' proposals to stimulate the economy, which do you believe had the better ideas?*	Likely voters	Democrats	Republicans	Independents
Democrats	36%	66%	5%	29%
Republicans	27%	4%	60%	24%
Both	6%	10%	6%	1%
Neither	23%	13%	20%	41%
Not sure	7%	7%	9%	5%
Note: Some totals may not equal 100% due to rounding

For a detailed methodological statement on this survey, please visit:

http://www.zogby.com/methodology/readmeth.cfm?ID=1390

(2/26/2009)

Tags: US | Economy | Politics

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Zogby Poll: Just 27% Believe They Will Benefit From Economic Stimulus Bill

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