Poll: Republicans Trusted More Than Democrats on the Economy

The telephone poll of 1,000 likely voters – conducted June 3-6 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points – asked which party could be trusted more on 10 issues.

Democrats led on health care, Social Security, and education, and the parties tied at 41 percent on abortion. Besides the economy, Republicans were trusted more on national security, immigration, taxes, the Iraq war, and government ethics.

The pollsters told participants, "I'm going to read you a short list of issues in the news. For each, please let me know which political party you trust more to handle that issue." The list started with the economy.

This is the first time in more than two years that this poll has shown that voters trust Republicans more than Democrats (45 percent to 39 percent) with the economy, perhaps a sign of the effect of the GM and Chrysler bankruptcies (the poll was taken right after GM announced its bankruptcy).

According to the poll, non-affiliated voters trust Republicans to handle economic issues by a two-to-one margin, no doubt a figure of huge importance for congressional and senatorial races in 2010 (especially if the economy does not have a serious rebound by then).

The results raise the question of whether Democrats can continue to blame economic woes on the previous administration. Although unemployment figures look better every month, future poll numbers could start to look pretty bleak if the stimulus package doesn't jump start the economic rebound ASAP.