Executive Summary

In choosing the Democrats in 2006, voters unquestionably sounded a call for change, voicing their frustration with President Bush and Congress’ failure to set the country on a course towards national and economic security. In many ways, Iraq stood at the center of this story; voters renounced the Republican “stay the course" policy in Iraq. They cited Iraq as the most important issue in their vote decisions and those who cited Iraq voted overwhelmingly Democratic, 75 - 23 percent.

Yet, this election tells a story that goes beyond Iraq and speaks to voter frustrations with a selfserving Congress. On election day, voters gave the Congress an abysmal 29 percent job approval rating in the Democracy Corps/Campaign for America’s Future post-election survey. Voters expressed frustration with a Republican Congress that catered to corporate special interests, most notably the oil industry.

At the same time, alternative energy allowed Democrats to offer a positive, future-oriented vision for the country. Without question, this election represented more of a repudiation of Republicans than an embrace of Democrats, but Democrats made significant gains on having new ideas and a future-oriented approach.

As the following points illustrate, energy played an important role in this election and it should play a key part in crossing the partisan polarization that voters rejected in this election. Its centrality to the key issues of our time - national security and economic prosperity - is unmistakable to voters.

Methodology:

This memo for the League of Conservation Voters is based upon a post-election survey of 2020 voters in the 2006 mid-term elections, including 1170 voters in the 50 most competitive Republican held congressional districts. The survey was conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and fielded November 7-8, 2006.

Key Findings

• Campaign ads highlighted energy issues in a prominent and unprecedented way this election cycle and had a huge impact on the campaigns.
• Candidates elevated energy in a broader narrative about building a strong, secure economy with good jobs.
• Alternative energy played a critical role in helping Democrats improve voters’ perceptions of them on having new ideas and looking out for the future.