What groups say about midterm elections

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Some demographics and details from the AP-Ipsos poll on the midterm elections, top priorities for Congress and Iraq. The poll was conducted by Ipsos, an international polling firm.
Some demographics and details from the AP-Ipsos poll on the midterm elections, top priorities for Congress and Iraq. The poll was conducted by Ipsos, an international polling firm.


OVERALL: Many are optimistic the country will be better off now that the Democrats control Congress: 42 percent of adults say the country will be better off now that the Democrats control Congress, while another 33 percent say it won't make much difference. Only 21 percent think the country will be worse off. Three-fourths of Democratic registered voters say they think the country will be better off, while 51 percent of Republicans think the country will be worse off. This suggest that Democratic optimism is more intense than Republican pessimism. Americans are divided over whether Bush and the Democrats in Congress can work together.

IRAQ: Americans feel Iraq should be the highest priority: 37 percent of all adults said the situation in Iraq should be the top priority for the U.S. Congress over the next two years. Iraq was far ahead of the second ranked issue, terrorism, which was ranked highest by 15 percent of adults. Almost half, 46 percent of Democratic voters, said Iraq should be the top priority, while Republicans ranked terrorism, 30 percent, about as highly as Iraq, 28 percent. A majority say the Democrats in Congress do not have a plan on how to handle the situation in Iraq.

ELECTION FAIRNESS: Overall, voters are more confident in the fairness of the electoral system: 50 percent of adults, and 53 percent of registered voters, say the results of the election have made them feel more confident about the fairness of this country's elections. That's about the same as the 54 percent of registered voters in 2004 who said the election made them more confident. Democrats were more confident than Republicans, a reversal from 2004.

WHO'S TO BLAME: Republicans are reluctant to blame President Bush for Republican losses in the congressional elections. Overall, Americans are willing to assign a great deal of blame to Bush for the Republican losses, with 45 percent of adults saying Bush deserves all or a great deal of the blame. That compares with only 22 percent of Republican voters who assign that much blame to Bush. Four in 10 Republicans say Bush deserves just some blame, while 35 percent believe he deserves very little or none of the blame. Seven in 10 Democratic voters say Bush deserves all or a great deal of the blame.

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Analysis by AP Manager of News Surveys Trevor Tompson, AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius and AP Writer Will Lester.