Thursday, Feb. 23, 2006 5:29 p.m. EST
Zogby: Democratic Voters Lack Enthusiasm


After nearly a dozen years as the minority party in Congress, Democratic Party leaders have apparently lost their groove.

A new Zogby poll of 1,039 likely voters reveals 58 percent of Democratic voters believe their leaders should "accept a lower position in Congress and work together with Republicans to craft the best legislation possible.” Democratic voters, according to the poll, have apparently lost their enthusiasm for political battles.

Only 6 percent - the hardest of the hardcore Democrats - say their Party’s priority should be the defeat of Republican-sponsored bills.

Surprisingly, 23 percent of self-declared Democrats in the poll claimed Republicans did a better job running Congress than Democrats.

But before GOP voters feel too cocky, consider this bit of information: Republicans didn’t fare much better in the poll.


Twenty-nine percent of self-identified Republicans said the GOP was a "failure because it has passed legislation that has caused massive increases in federal spending and has not made meaningful progress on issues important to rank-and-file Republicans.”

Self-described "conservatives” are leading the internal discontent.

The Zogby poll dovetails with a Pew Research Center survey that shows conservatives are generally "happier” than liberals.

Syndicated columnist George F. Will, reporting on the survey, wrote that Republicans have been happier than Democrats every year since the survey began in 1972.


The reason? Conservatives "accept that happiness is a function of fending for oneself.”

Married people and religious people – typically self-identified as conservatives – are especially disposed to happiness, with "red state” Southerners showing the sunniest dispositions of all.