The Breitbart News/Judicial Watch survey of election day voters released today showed that the vast majority of voters are concerned about government corruption, but that this issue did not give the Republicans an advantage on Election Day. Surprisingly, slightly more voters had confidence in the ability of the Democratic Party to limit corruption in Washington than the Republican Party.
85% of voters were either very or somewhat concerned about the issue of federal government corruption in Washington, D.C.:
How concerned are you about the issue of federal government corruption in Washington, DC? Would you say you are…
85% Concerned (total)
53% Very concerned
32% Somewhat concerned
Voters felt that the Democratic Party was better able to deal with this corruption than the Republican Party. In responding to the question, "Which political party, the Republican party or the Democratic party do you think will do a better job of cleaning up corruption in Washington, DC?," 37% said Democrat, while only 34% said Republican.
The survey results suggest that part of the reason for Mitt Romney's loss on election day was the surprisingly damaged "brand" of the Republican Party on this issue.
Even more surpising was that by a 2 to 1 margin (50% to 25%), young voters aged 18 to 34 had greater confidence in the ability of the Democratic Party, rather than the Republican Party, to clean up corruption.
These findings are dramatic.
Most Republican Party leaders assumed that the constant barrage of stories of crony capitalist "green companies" going bankrupt had persuaded voters that Democrats were the party of corruption. However, these survey results demonstrate that such is not the case. Particularly among young voters, the old "branding" of Republicans as the fat cat party of corruption continues to dominate, despite evidence to the contrary of massive Democratic corruption.
The survey also found that 71% of voters agreed with the statement, "The larger the size of government the more opportunities it creates for possible corruption."