In Touch Media Group Survey: Democrats Poised to Control House, Senate

With the mid-term elections less than a week away, a survey conducted by In Touch Media Group, Inc. (www.intouchmediagroup.com) has found that Democrats may very well pick up the 17 House seats and 7 Senate seats they need to control both houses of Congress. "This is a wake-up call for Republicans," said Toli Cefail, Chief Operating Office of ITMG, a full-service marketing company that specializes in using the Internet as a key public relations and advertising tool. "Unless Republican candidates distance themselves from recent scandals and energize their base, they may be in for a rude awakening come November 8."

Clearwater, FL (PRWEB) November 2, 2006 -- With the mid-term elections less than a week away, a survey conducted by In Touch Media Group, Inc. (www.intouchmediagroup.com) has found that Democrats may very well pick up the 17 House seats and 7 Senate seats they need to control both houses of Congress. "This is a wake-up call for Republicans," said Toli Cefail, Chief Operating Office of ITMG, a full-service marketing company that specializes in using the Internet as a key public relations and advertising tool. "Unless Republican candidates distance themselves from recent scandals and energize their base, they may be in for a rude awakening come November 8."

Over half of the survey's more than 800 respondents said that they aren't better off today than they were four years ago, and only one-fifth said they felt good about the current economy. A full 46 percent indicated that they felt bad about the economy. Of those surveyed who plan to vote next Tuesday, 38.8 percent said they plan to vote for Democrats, while only 27.6 percent said they will vote Republican.

"We found that a majority of those who plan to vote for Democrats feel that it's time for a change, with a common response being a variation of 'Republicans have had their chance and didn't deliver,'" said Cefail. The survey also found that those who plan to vote for Republicans were generally the social and religious conservatives who make up the party's base. "Given the concern expressed by Republican political operatives about their ability to get their base to the polls on Tuesday, this election could be the opposite of the 1994 mid-terms, when voters calling for change gave Republicans the majority," said Cefail.

ITMG's survey also found that voters had a set of litmus tests that could influence their vote. The issues of primary concern to respondents are a candidate's positions on taxes, terrorism, and the Iraq war, as well as whether he or she had a plan. "Only 24 percent of those surveyed said that the political party to which they belong would influence their vote - a striking departure from the tradition of voting along party lines," said Cefail. Indeed, in an open-ended question, many respondents volunteered that they would vote a split ticket.

When asked about the single most important thing on their mind this election season, respondents overwhelming cited the economy. Thirty-five percent said that the economy was of utmost concern, while 28 percent cited the war in Iraq. Thirteen percent said candidate honesty was a concern, and only ten percent said that terrorism and homeland security were of primary importance.

"This doesn't bode well for Republicans, who have expended much of their political capital fending off recent scandals and positioning themselves as the party that can keep America safe," said Cefail.

Toli Cefail says that Republicans must communicate a highly targeted message to voters in order to turn around their likely defeat. "They should stress that the Dow Jones, at over 12,000, is the highest in history, that gasoline prices are lower than they've been in nearly a year, and that the American economy is booming - at least statistically," she said. "Our survey indicates that Americans aren't considering this information when forming opinions about the state of the economy."

Cefail says that Republican public relations teams have been asleep at the wheel when it comes to the War on Terror. "We've seen no news about how much better women are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan, or any of the positive feedback that soldiers and Iraqi and Afghan citizens have reported," she said. "Iraq has been buying TV commercials promoting 'the new Iraq,' but the media is not reporting on this and the commercials are not running in prime time mainstream media."

In conclusion, Cefail points to ITMG's survey results that found Americans do not like negative campaigning. "If the Republicans want to win next Tuesday, they will have to show a clear plan regarding taxes, the war, and the economy. They can also gain ground by showing how their opposition doesn't have a plan."

About In Touch Media Group

In Touch Media Group, Inc. (ITOU.OB) is a full-service marketing company that specializes in using the Internet as a key public relations and advertising tool. The company employs online market research to dramatically increase the effectiveness of search engine advertising, targeted publicity, and strategically placed website advertising.

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