A survey of 500 likely New Hampshire voters found:
1. The political environment is challenging for Democrats with only 25% saying the country is headed in the right direction. President Obama's approval rating is also underwater at 40% approve to 57% disapprove.
2. Both Senate candidates, Scott Brown and Jeanne Shaheen, have polarized images among voters. Brown trails Shaheen by just 3 points, 41% to 44%.
3. Over half of voters describe Shaheen as liberal, outpacing the 21% of voters in New Hampshire who identify as liberal. The Senate race has tightened considerably over the last few polls.
A survey of 500 likely New Hampshire voters found:
1. The political environment is challenging for Democrats with only 25% saying the country is headed in the right direction. President Obama's approval rating is also underwater at 40% approve to 57% disapprove.
2. Both Senate candidates, Scott Brown and Jeanne Shaheen, have polarized images among voters. Brown trails Shaheen by just 3 points, 41% to 44%.
3. Over half of voters describe Shaheen as liberal, outpacing the 21% of voters in New Hampshire who identify as liberal. The Senate race has tightened considerably over the last few polls.
A survey of 500 likely New Hampshire voters found:
1. The political environment is challenging for Democrats with only 25% saying the country is headed in the right direction. President Obama's approval rating is also underwater at 40% approve to 57% disapprove.
2. Both Senate candidates, Scott Brown and Jeanne Shaheen, have polarized images among voters. Brown trails Shaheen by just 3 points, 41% to 44%.
3. Over half of voters describe Shaheen as liberal, outpacing the 21% of voters in New Hampshire who identify as liberal. The Senate race has tightened considerably over the last few polls.
A survey of 500 likely New Hampshire voters found:
1. The political environment is challenging for Democrats with only 25% saying the country is headed in the right direction. President Obama's approval rating is also underwater at 40% approve to 57% disapprove.
2. Both Senate candidates, Scott Brown and Jeanne Shaheen, have polarized images among voters. Brown trails Shaheen by just 3 points, 41% to 44%.
3. Over half of voters describe Shaheen as liberal, outpacing the 21% of voters in New Hampshire who identify as liberal. The Senate race has tightened considerably over the last few polls.
FROM: GLEN BOLGER/J IM HOBART RE: NEW HAMPSHIRE STATEWIDE SURVEY KEY FINDINGS DATE: SEPTEMBER 4, 2014 Methodology Public Opinion Strategies conducted a statewide survey of 500 likely voters in New Hampshire on behalf of American Crossroads. Eighty percent (80%) of interviews were conducted with landline respondents and 20% were conducted with cell phone only respondents. Landline interviews were completed August 27-28, and the cell phone interviews were completed August 27-28, 31, and September 1st. The survey has a margin of error of +4.38% in 95 out of 100 cases. Key Findings 1. The political environment in New Hampshire is very problematic for Democrats. Only 25% of New Hampshire voters say things in the country are headed in the right direction, while 67% say they are off the wrong track. The Presidents approval rating is also underwater in the state, with 40% saying they approve of the job Barack Obama is doing, compared to 57% who disapprove. Intensity is strongly against the President, with a scant 17% saying they strongly approve of the job he is doing, while 44% say they strongly disapprove. 2. Both Scott Brown and Jeanne Shaheen have polarized images. Candidates for U.S. Senate Scott Brown and J eanne Shaheen both have universal name ID in New Hampshire and their images with Granite State voters are rather mixed. Browns image sits at 42% favorable/41% unfavorable, while Shaheens is at 49% favorable/44% unfavorable. In the Boston media market that dominates the state, the candidates images are remarkably similar, with Brown at 45% fav/40% unfav and Shaheen at 49% fav/44% unfav. 3 Brown trails Shaheen by just three points on the Senate ballot. The Senate race in New Hampshire is tight, with Brown only three points behind Shaheen (41% Brown/44% Shaheen). Libertarian candidate Gardner Goldsmith garners 9% of the vote and 6% of voters are undecided. By intensity, Brown has the narrowest of advantages, as 32% of voters say they will definitely vote for Brown, compared to 31% who are definitely voting for Shaheen. NH Key Findings Memo September 4, 2014 Page two of two 4. More than half of voters describe Jeanne Shaheen as a liberal. When asked if they would describe J eanne Shaheen as a conservative, moderate, or liberal, a majority (55%) of voters described her as liberal, with 33% saying Shaheen is very liberal. This makes Shaheen ideologically out of step with the state she represents, as only 21% of New Hampshire voters describe themselves as liberal. 5. There is no doubt that this race has tightened considerably. The last three public released surveys in this race have all pegged Shaheens lead as being in the low to mid single digits. Polling Firm/ Survey Sponsor Dates Ballot Advantage UNH/WMUR (non-partisan) 8/7-8/17 44% Brown/ 46% Shaheen +2 Shaheen PPP/League of Conservation Voters (Democratic) 8/27-8/28 44% Brown 50% Shaheen +6 Shaheen Public Opinion Strategies/American Crossroads (Republican) 8/27-28 & 8/31-9/1 41% Brown/ 44% Shaheen^ +3 Shaheen ^The Public Opinion Strategies survey was the only one of the three listed to include the Libertarian candidate on the ballot test. The race has tightened for three reasons: The political environment in New Hampshire is very challenging for Democrats. The Granite State might not be Arkansas or Louisiana, but the right direction/wrong track and Presidential approval numbers are very similar to those in North Carolina, Colorado, and Iowa. There is no daylight between Jeanne Shaheen and President Obama. While other incumbent Democratic Senators have attempted to put some distance between themselves and the President, Shaheen has done nothing of the sort and her record of voting with the President 99% of the time is a significant problem for her. New Hampshire is still very much a swing state. While some of the states where Republicans are competing have not sent a Republican Senator to Washington in more than a decade, Kelly Ayotte won a Senate election in New Hampshire by 23 points just four years ago. New Hampshire is far from unfriendly terrain for Republican statewide candidates. The Bottom Line J eanne Shaheen still leads Scott Brown in the race for U.S. Senate, but that lead is quickly shrinking. Over the course of the next two months, Shaheen is going to be forced to defend her liberal voting record that is in lock step with an unpopular President. Being forced to defend that record could easily further jeopardize Shaheens seat in the Senate.