Poll Watch: Rasmussen (R) Survey on Bill Clinton and the Bush Tax Cuts

Rasmussen (R) Survey on Bill Clinton and the Bush Tax Cuts

Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable impression of Bill Clinton?

• Very favorable 28%
• Somewhat favorable 32%
• Somewhat unfavorable 23%
• Very unfavorable 15%

Whose judgment do you trust more when it comes to the economy – Bill Clinton’s or Barack Obama’s?

• Bill Clinton's 55%
• Barack Obama's 26%

Whose judgment do you trust more when it comes to the economy – Bill Clinton’s or Mitt Romney’s?

• Bill Clinton's 53%
• Mitt Romney's 39%

Should the Bush administration tax cuts be extended permanently, extended temporarily until the economy improves or should the tax cuts end this year as scheduled?

• Extend tax cuts permanently 36%
• Extend tax cuts temporarily until the economy improves 27%
• End tax cuts this year as scheduled 28%

Suppose you had a choice between extending the Bush administration tax cuts for all Americans or extending the Bush administration tax cuts for everyone except the wealthy. Which would you prefer?

• Extend tax cuts for all Americans 44%
• Extend tax cuts for everyone except the wealthy 46%

Survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted June 7-8, 2012. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points.

Inside the numbers:

Seventy percent (70%) of Republicans and 59% of voters not affiliated with either major political party trust Clinton’s economic judgment more than Obama’s. Democrats express more confidence in the president by a narrower 44% to 35% margin.

Eighty-eight percent (88%) of Democrats and 52% of unaffiliated voters share more faith in Clinton’s judgment about the economy than Romney’s. But 75% of GOP voters put more trust in Romney.

As for the Bush tax cuts themselves, a plurality (49%) of Democratic voters think they should be allowed to expire at the end of the year. Eighty-six percent (86%) of Republicans and 61% of unaffiliateds think they should be extended either permanently or at least until the economy gets better.

Seventy-one percent (71%) of Republicans say the tax cuts should be extended for all Americans, but just 20% of Democrats and 39% of unaffiliated voters agree.