PRINCETON, N.J., Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Republicans and Democrats are tied in Gallup's weekly poll of congressional preferences, one week after Republicans held a 10-point lead in the generic poll.
Republicans held a lead in the tracking poll for five consecutive weeks, but the poll released Tuesday found both parties had the support of 46 percent of registered voters, Gallup said. Republicans held a 51 percent to 41 percent lead over Democrats in last week's poll.
"This shift, coupled with the fact that Democrats led on the measure earlier in the summer, shows that voter sentiments are not immune to change," Gallup said on its Web site.
Despite pulling even with Republicans in the generic ballot, Democrats still trail the GOP by 25 points among survey respondents who say they are "very enthusiastic" about voting, Gallup said.
The survey, conducted following President Barack Obama's return from a 10-day vacation, found his three-day job approval rating rose to 47 percent for Aug. 29-31 -- its highest level since mid-July.
The poll was based on telephone interviews conducted Aug. 30-Sept. 5 with a random sample of 1,651 registered voters. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.
