Two Very Good Questions from the AP-Gfk Survey

In reading through the July 16-20, 2009 AP-Gfk poll (have not seen the August data release) I came across two very interesting questions worth tracking.

The first is on the pace of change that the Obama administration is pushing (question CURX4 on page 23) and asks respondents if the Obama adminstration is... "trying to change too many things too quickly", "changing things about the right amount at the right speed", or "not changing enough things quickly enough". The wording is a bit clunky, but the segmentation is fascinating and worth tracking. Between April and July the "too quickly" and "right amount" percentages have nearly flipped, suggesting that a growing percentage of the public (32% in April and now 49%) may be concerned at the direction and pace of change. Even more interesting is that this data shows the American public evenly split with 49% wanting a slower rate of change and 49% thinking the rate of change is either about right (37%) or not fast enough (12%). It would be very interesting to see this data among 2008 voters, self IDed independents, and 2004 red state independents.

The second is on job loss. Question CUR38 (page 26) asks for self-reported job loss for the respondent and "someone in your family". It would be stronger if it asked "someone in your household", but the trend data is fascinating and will be interesting to watch over time. Interestingly, the companion question queries on job loss over the past six months among "someone you know personally." This again would be interesting to track over time.