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The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch

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Thursday, May 20, 2010

Politics Rasmussen: 68% Oppose Boycott of Arizona Over SB 1070. Plus, Two in Five Americans Would Rather Have Members of Congress Randomly Drawn From Phone Book Than Elect Them

Posted by Jim Nintzel on Thu, May 20, 2010 at 5:28 PM

Rasmussen reports that 68 percent of adults oppose boycotting Arizona. Unfortunately, 14 percent do think it's a good idea, which could still screw up the tourism biz.

Boston and Los Angeles were among the first to announce boycotts of Arizona, but 68% of Americans say it’s a bad idea for other cities or states to boycott Arizona over its new immigration law.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that only 14% of Adults think it’s a good idea for cities or states to join that boycott. Ten percent (10%) don’t care one way or the other, and nine percent (9%) more are undecided.

In a separate survey, Rasmussen reveals that two in five Americans figure that people randomly drawn from the phone book would do a better job of running the country than Congress:

Tuesday's primaries were more proof of the anti-incumbency mood felt in many parts of the nation, and a new Rasmussen Reports poll finds that many voters continue to feel a randomly selected sample of people from the phone book could do a better job than their elected representatives in Congress.

The latest national telephone survey of Likely Voters finds that 41% say a group of people selected at random from the phone book would do a better job addressing the nation’s problems than the current Congress. Almost as many (38%) disagree, however, and another 20% are undecided.

We think when William F. Buckley made his crack that "I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University," it was meant as a criticism of Harvard, not as an endorsement of random selection of members of Congress. Wonder what Buckley would think of conservatism today?

BTW: We're aware that Rasmussen polls tend to lean right and should be viewed with some skepticism.