Most voters continue to believe it is not possible to run for the presidency without help from lobbyists and special interest groups. A narrow plurality, however, continues to believe that media bias is a bigger problem than big campaign contributions.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 22% of Likely U.S. Voters believe it is possible to run for president in today’s world without having ties to any lobbyists and special interest groups. Fifty-seven percent (57%) disagree and say it is not possible to seek the presidency without ties to lobbyists and special interest groups. Twenty-one percent (21%) are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on August 18-19, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.