Newsweek has a "Web Exclusive" pair of polls. One is the results of Newsweek's latest survey, and the other is a Live Vote: "Do you think the Democrats will regain control of either the House or the Senate?" Over 66,000 votes with 49% saying the Democrats will take BOTH the House and Senate.
The NEWSWEEK poll, conducted Oct. 26-27, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. It has the Republicans in trouble, but maybe not as much as a couple of polls ago.
Quotes after the flip>
Almost half of all Americans still believe taking military action in Iraq was a mistake, but the gap between those who say it was and those who say it was the right decision has narrowed: from 54 to 39 last week to 49 to 43 this week--from a 15-point margin to just six points.
Faith that the United States is making progress in Iraq is up slightly, too: from 25 percent of Americans last week to 29 percent this week. A solid majority still believes the United States is losing ground, but their ranks have decreased from 65 percent to 60 percent. The biggest change is among Republicans. Last week, 50 percent of Republicans said America was making progress in Iraq (35 percent said we were losing ground). This week 65 percent of Republicans say we're making progress and only 22 percent say we're losing ground.
It is hard for me to believe how many people can be convinced by Bush's latest proclamations of progress and "We are winning." Just because he says it, doesn't make it so!
On the issues, Republicans have staunched their own political bloodletting, pulling even with Democrats on signature GOP issues: for instance, 40 percent of Americans trust Republicans more on handling terrorism; 39 percent trust Democrats more--a statistical tie. And when it comes to which party voters trust more on moral values, Americans are evenly split at 38 percent. The GOP has slightly narrowed the trust gap on other issues, but the Democrats still lead--on Iraq (45 to 33); the economy (47 to 34); health care (53 to 26); immigration (40 to 32); federal spending and the deficit (47 to 31); and stem-cell research (48 to 26). They even tie, statistically, on what used to be bedrock Republican issues: 39 to 37, in favor of the Democrats, on guns; and 38 to 36 in favor of the Democrats on crime. On abortion, Democrats win 42 to 33 and on same-sex marriage, 41 to 33.
Throughout the article, there are many more tidbits. Check it out at Newsweek.