A new Rasmussen Reports survey could spell big trouble for Virginia Dems next week if the public perceives them to be on the wrong side of the illegal alien issue:
Seventy percent (70%) of Virginia voters say it is Very Important for the government to improve its enforcement of the borders and reduce illegal immigration. Just 27% say it is Very Important to legalize the status of illegal aliens already in the United States.
Backing up those views, 79% believe that if a police officer pulls someone over for a traffic violation, the officer should automatically check to see if that person is in the country legally. Sixty-seven percent (67%) believe that illegal aliens discovered in this manner should be deported. Support for this approach is found across partisan and demographic lines. From an ideological perspective, 79% of conservatives believe illegal aliens discovered through a traffic violation should be deported. Forty-seven percent (47%) of liberal voters agree.
Seventy-two percent (72%) believe that if a person wants to rent an apartment in Virginia, they should be required to show documents proving that they are legally in the United States.
Seventy-one percent (71%) favor strict government sanctions on employers who hire illegal immigrants.
Eighty-two percent (82%) are opposed to allowing illegal immigrants to receive a drivers license. Eighty-six percent (86%) say that illegal immigrants should not be allowed to receive public benefits such as rental and housing assistance.
Filed under: 2007 Elections, Democrats, Immigration, Virginia Politics
Anyone else notice that Warner plummeted from last month in the tracking poll? His “lead” is now 16-points (53 Warner to 37 Gilmore).
I guess that the more people remember Marky Mark the less they like him. Anyone care to take bets on how much Warner erodes in the polls once Gilmore actually announces next month?
[...] enforcement get involved in protecting our community from illegal aliens? Not so well, if what Riley is reporting will have an impact on November 6th: Backing up those views, 79% believe that if a [...]
Gilmore should take heed of this.
The question remains whether or not Republicans will get back to the basics and return to that which they abandoned. If Republicans cannot distinguish themselves from the Democrats, these poll numbers useless.
[...] editorial as anyone “battling the influx of illegal immigrants into our country.” A Rasmussen survey of Virginia voters released last October found that vast majorities of Virginians would probably fall into this [...]