Nearly 6 in 10 May 'Look Around' Rather Than Re-elect Incumbent

Nearly six in 10 Americans say they are inclined to "look around" for a new candidate to support rather than re-elect their current representative in this year's midterm elections, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted April 22-25.

Reflecting an anti-incumbent mood found in many other national polls, 57 percent put themselves in the "look around" category, while 32 percent said they'd re-elect their sitting congressman. The other 10 percent were undecided, did not plan to vote or didn't voice an opinion for other reasons.

The anti-incumbent margin was somewhat more negative than the results of a Post/ABC News poll in February, when 56 percent said they were inclined to look around and 37 percent said they'd re-elect their current representative.

But even though the Democrats are mostly the incumbent party, they fare better than the Republicans on other measures in the poll.

By a 46 percent to 32 percent margin, those surveyed say they trust Democrats more than Republicans to do a better job over the next few years in handling the main problems that face the country. Two percent said they trust both, 18 percent trust neither and 3 percent are undecided.

They also trust Obama over congressional Republicans on several major issues. On the economy, Obama is trusted more by 49 percent to 38 percent. Fifty-two percent trust Obama more when it comes to regulation of the financial industry, while 35 percent trust the Republicans. Forty-five percent trust Obama more on handling the federal deficit, while 41 percent trust the Republicans. Forty-nine percent trust Obama more on health care reform, while 39 percent trust the Republicans. (The balance in all cases are people who trust both or neither, or are undecided.)

Fifty-nine percent still put most of the blame on former President Bush for the current state of the economy, a sentiment little changed from last July. Twenty-five percent blame Obama, up from 16 percent last July. Sixty percent say Bush is more responsible for the current budget deficit, while 22 percent point to Obama.

Fifty-eight percent say Obama's economic program has made the economy worse or has had no effect (26 percent say "worse," 32 percent say "no effect"), while 39 percent say it has made things better.

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