Swing voters are ready to strongly reward candidates that make money in politics a campaign issue and support alternatives to our current big money system, according to new polling released today by Democracy Corps, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, and Public Campaign Action Fund (PCAF).

As PCAF’s executive director said, “Money in politics is a ballot-box issue, that voters will be going to the ballot box this fall looking for candidates who support addressing the issue of money in politics. This is a tremendous opportunity and upside for someone from one party or the other to make these arguments and seize that agenda. It is truly up for grabs, and the survey work truly emphasizes that.”

Key points from the poll:

• Money in politics is not a distraction from the economy, it is the economy. For ordinary Americans, this is not an either/or proposition; it is not question of addressing money in politics at the expense of talking about pocketbook problems. Voters believe that Washington is so corrupted by big banks, big donors, and corporate lobbyists that it no longer works for the middle class.
• Voters feel strongly about reducing the influence of big money in politics and there is broad-based support to alternatives to the current system. Voters are supportive of small-donor matching systems with limited public financing and support common sense restrictions on what corporations and wealthy donors can spend on politics.
• Voters will strongly support candidates — from both political parties — who seize this issue. Voters do not currently trust either party to tackle money in politics. All voters, and swing voters in particular, strongly support candidates who are willing to take on money in politics as a serious campaign issue. In fact, more than a third of all voters make this a litmus test for their support

The American people are fed up with our broken political system and want change. As Greenberg said, "We do lots of campaigns and we test lots of attacks, but these are among the strongest that we have tested. Money is the traction here that takes it to the next step and gives it power."

Check out our full press release and coverage in The Hill, National Journal, Mother Jones, and ThinkProgress.