"A Reflection on the 2006 Election"
(Luntz-Maslansky Strategic Research, 2006)

Luntz found that "Republican rejecters" were more likely to be moderate (51%) than conservative or somewhat conservative (34%). Many of these people made their final voting decision on or near Election Day, 2006.

What angered these people the most about the GOP-controlled Congress? According to Luntz, illegal immigration led the list at 26%, with ethics a close second (24%), and wasteful spending third (17%).

"Attitudes Toward Amnesty"
(Center for Immigration Studies, 2001)

The strongest opposition to amnesty can be found among conservatives, with 60 percent thinking it is a bad or very bad idea compared to 26 percent who think it is a good or very good idea. Perhaps most troubling for the president, almost one-third of all conservatives (32 percent) indicated that they would be less likely to vote for Bush if he supported an amnesty, while only 10 percent said they would be more likely to vote for him.

Among Democrats, 55 percent said they thought an amnesty would be a bad idea and 36 percent thought it was a good idea. Some of the strongest opposition was found among voters in union households, a key Democratic consistency. Sixty percent of voters in union households thought it was a bad idea compared to 32 percent who thought it was a good idea.