Who Influenced Voters?

By Brad O'Leary

Washington, D.C. - A recent Zogby International/O'Leary Report poll shows that both the Tea Party and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had significant influence over voters' decisions last week, while the National Organization for Women failed in its attempt to persuade voters. The Poll was conducted November 3-5 of 2,185 voters and has a margin-of-error of 2.1 percentage points.

The Poll asked:

Now that the election is over, how important was the voice of the Tea Party to your vote?

A sizeable 36% of voters said the Tea Party's voice was important to their vote. The Tea Party was also hugely influential among Independent voters, as 35% of Independents said they listened for the voice of the Tea Party.

Notably, a strong majority of Republican voters (60%) said that the Tea Party's message was important to how they voted last week.

Among small business owners, 39% said the voice of the Tea Party was important to their vote, as did 47% of weekly church goers, 36% of taxpayers, and 46% of military veterans.

The Poll also asked:

Now that the election is over, how important was the voice of the Chamber of Commerce to your vote?

A significant 18% of voters said the Chamber of Commerce's voice was important to their vote, as did 16% of Independent voters. The Chamber's voice also resonated strongly with 29% of Republicans, and 34% of Tea Party voters.

Among small business owners, 23% said the voice of the Chamber was important to their vote, as did 18% of taxpayers.

The Poll also asked:

Now that the election is over, how important was the voice of the National Organization for Women (NOW) to your vote?

Only 7% of voters said that the voice of NOW was important to their vote, and even fewer Independent voters (3%) listened to NOW's message during the midterm campaign. Among Democratic voters, 16% say they listened for NOW's voice.

NOW also failed to resonate among young voters, as just 6% said that NOW's voice was important to them. In addition, only 6% of taxpayers said that NOW's voice was important to their vote last week.

This Zogby International poll was commissioned by The O'Leary Report newsletter. The Poll surveyed 2,185 voters November 3-5, and has a margin-of-error of plus-or-minus 2.1 percentage points. To view full poll results and crosstabs for today's release, click here or go to www.olearyreport.com.

Brad O'Leary is publisher of The O'Leary Report, a bestselling author, and is a former NBC Westwood One talk show host. To see more, go to http://www.olearyreport.com/. To interview Brad, contact Shawna Shriner at (703) 272-1500 or ShawnaS@thepm-group.com.