Poll shows Democrats, Republicans in tie among voters

WASHINGTON - Nervous Democratic incumbents in Congress received a sliver of good news yesterday from a new poll that found them tied with Republicans when people were asked which party they'd vote for in November.

However, the bipartisan Politico/George Washington University Battleground Poll found that, by a 9-point margin, most voters still believe the GOP will reclaim control of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Still, when they were asked which party they'd vote for if they had to do it today, both Democrats and Republicans registered 43 percent.

Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, who helped conduct the survey with GOP pollster Ed Goeas, said the results proved that Democratic incumbents weren't as dead in the water as pundits thought.

Recent polls have projected a Republican tidal wave that could give the GOP more than the 39 House seats it needs to have the majority. Republicans need to gain 10 seats to take control of the Senate.

In other polls Thursday:

A majority of Americans believe the Republican Party has become more conservative, but few say the shift is due to the tea party movement, according to a USA Today/Gallup poll. The poll also found that three of every 10 Americans identified themselves as supporters of the movement, and 27 percent said they were opponents.

Almost half the country opposes tax increases for the richest Americans, according to an Associated Press-GfK Poll that also found that huge majorities call the economy sickly and say Congress is doing its job badly. By a 46 percent to 41 percent margin, people want Republicans steering the economy - the first GOP edge on that runaway No. 1 concern of voters in the AP-GfK poll.