Public Opinion

Americans Say We're Still In A Recession

The Huffington Post | Khadeeja Safdar | Posted 04.11.2012

Read More: Video, Unemployment Rate, Economic Recession, Business News, Low Paying Jobs, Jobs, Public Opinion, Survey, Credit Card Debt, Consumer Spending, Recession, Business News

We may not technically be in a recession anymore, but the vast majority of Americans say they aren't feeling the recovery. More than 75 percent of...

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Survey Reveals Sea Change In Conservatives' View Of Science

Posted 03.30.2012

Read More: Politics, Video, Conservatives and Science, Science, Public Opinion, Conservative, Liberal, Conservative Attitudes Toward Science, Democrats, Study, Republicans, Science News

By: Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer Published: 03/29/2012 07:40 AM EDT on LiveScience Politically conservative Americans have lost tr...

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The American Public as Jurists

Peter J. Woolley | Posted 05.26.2012

Read More: Supreme Court, Public Opinion, Health Insurance, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Health Care Supreme Court, Pollster, Pollster Analysis, Politics News

For many observers, the key to its outcome is in the pens of the five Republican-appointed justices who, it is thought, are far more likely than four Democratic-appointed justices to strike down the law, passed by Congress in 2010.

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Are Voters Stupid, Or Are They Just Routinely Subjected To Terrible Political Reporting?

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 05.15.2012

Read More: Eat the Press, Politico, Polling, 2012 Election, Elections 2012, Media Criticism, Public Opinion, Idiots, 2012, Media News

While the various grand debates over the deficit that went down during 2011 received a massive quantity of coverage, the quality of that coverage was, at all times, pretty lacking. When the Senate's own attempt to form a deficit commission foundered, David Broder posited that it was the fault of Democratic "committee chairmen." This was comically wrong -- 10 of those committee chairs voted for it, versus six against, which was not enough to decide the matter. The measure failed because seven Republican cosponsors of the bill bailed on it. This stuff isn't that hard to figure out. And yet this is just a single example out of many where ordinary Americans haven't been properly informed on a variety of important details about an issue.

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Obama Can Win Big With FDR Formula

Robert S. McElvaine | Posted 03.26.2012

Read More: Big Business, 2012 Elections, Wall Street, Ronald Reagan, Big Government, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Progressives, Harry Truman, Public Opinion, 1936 Election, Democrats, Barack Obama, Politics News

Always a savvy pragmatist, FDR finally realized it was impossible to compromise with those who refuse to compromise. He also saw that he needed to move left to catch up with his "followers," who were demanding more vigorous action.

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Listening and Learning: Arab Opinion Matters

James Zogby | Posted 03.14.2012

Read More: Arab World, Lebanon, Jordan, Arab Spring, Tunisia, Egypt, Middle East, Public Opinion, Benjamin Netanyahu, Iran, Iraq, Bashar Al-Assad, Syria Conflict, Syria Public Opinion, Arab Public Opinion, Syria, World News

Arab opinion matters. It clearly matters to the West, which has long ignored Arab sentiment. But the views of the public matter within the region as well. The sooner leaders listen and learn, the sooner change can occur.

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Are Republicans in Love with Romney, or Is He Just a Good Bet?

David C. Wilson | Posted 12.20.2011

Read More: Gop, Polls, Herman Cain, Romney, Rick Perry, Public Opinion, Republican Primary, CNN Poll, Pollster, Pollster Analysis, Politics News

While former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has been a staple in GOP presidential campaigns for at least the past five years he has yet to sway a majority of Republican that he's the "one for them."

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Obama Must Explain His Broken Promise on Medical Marijuana, and Soon

Scott Morgan | Posted 12.20.2011

Read More: Public Opinion, Politics, Medical Marijuana, Doj, Drug War, Marijuana, Politics News

As the American people appear all but prepared to end our war on marijuana once and for all, the federal government is busy doubling down on the even-more-mindless battle against people who use the drug medicinally.

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Gallup Poll: Vast Majorty Says Recession Not Over

HuffingtonPost.com | Janell Ross | Posted 11.21.2011

Read More: Consumer Confidence, Economic Indicators, Unemployment, Weak Economic Recovery, Gallup Poll, Public Opinion, Recession Not Over, The Great Recession, Jobs Market, Gallup, Recession, Business News

A shortage of jobs and falling incomes have left an overwhelming share of Americans convinced that the Great Recession is not over, according to a Gal...

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Playing Chicken on Climate Change

William S. Becker | Posted 11.15.2011

Read More: Independents, Huntsman, Deniers, Charlie Crist, 2012 Presidential Election, Bachman, Climate Change, Nancy Pelosi, Environment, Public Opinion, Republicans, Democrats, Santorum, Gingrich, Mark Sanford, Tea Party, Green News

The people trying to wake us up to the realities of global warming have taken to calling themselves "climate hawks." In the field of Republican presidential candidates, we are seeing a new breed emerge: climate chickens.

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Delaware's African American Voters Changed the Political Map

David C. Wilson | Posted 11.08.2011

Read More: Politics, Pollster, Race, Blackvoices, Public Opinion, Midterm Elections, Christine O'donnell, Chris Coons, Delaware, Pollster Analysis, Politics News

A changing racial-ethnic composition in the U.S. suggests that candidates should not fear, or be uncomfortable, going into predominately racial-ethnic communities to communicate their ideas about how to fix problems.

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Why the Iowa Straw Poll Is Like a High School Election

George Weiner | Posted 10.29.2011

Read More: Iowa Straw Poll, Ames Straw Poll, Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, Public Opinion, GOP Candidates, Politics News

"Have you heard? Susie Cooper is running for High School class president -- and she's giving out free cupcakes in the hall!". A winning strategy for a...

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Debt Deal: Sifting Through the Debris

Rick Horowitz | Posted 10.04.2011

I'm still trying to dig up the quote. I know it was President Obama, and I know it was at least a few months ago, and I'm pretty sure I can picture...

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Obama In Sync With America On Standards

Phyllis Cuttino | Posted 10.02.2011

Read More: Energy, Pew Environment Group, Public Opinion, Obama Administration, Poll, Fuel Efficiency, Green News

Against a backdrop of sharp differences on a variety of current public policy issues, new polling by the Pew Clean Energy Program demonstrates strong support from American voters for immediate action on vehicle fuel economy.

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If You Think Supporting Marijuana Legalization Is Political Suicide, You're Wrong

Scott Morgan | Posted 09.18.2011

Read More: Public Opinion, Politics, War on Drugs, Marijuana, Politics News

If there exists a political price to be paid in the marijuana debate, it will not befall those who've leant their voices to the movement for reform.

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The Optimism Gap: Are Washington and the Public on the Same Track?

Scott Bittle | Posted 07.13.2011

Read More: Leadership, Politics, Deficit, Economy, Optimism, Public Opinion, Beltway, Poll, Wrong Track, Politics News

Part of leadership is conveying an air of optimism and confidence. But what does it mean when leaders are more optimistic than the people they're supposed to be leading?

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Do Early Polls Matter?

Brendan Nyhan | Posted 07.09.2011

Read More: Polls, Public Opinion, Republican Primary, Primary, Republican Nomination, Pollster Analysis, Early Polls, Politics News

The fact that polling is correlated with primary performance shouldn't be surprising. Candidates' poll performance is largely a reflection of their institutional advantages or disadvantages rather than an independent factor predicting success or failure.

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Yet Another Poll Shows... Plutocracy Stupid, Democracy Smart

Dave Johnson | Posted 06.20.2011

Read More: Deficit, Budget Deficit, Democracy, Spending, Plutocracy, Public Opinion, Public Opinion Polls, Politics News

Here's the thing: what the public wants actually would fix the borrowing. And what the plutocrats want would make it worse. So maybe the public isn't that stupid after all.

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Convergence of Interests and Values

Parvez Ahmed | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Arab World, Turkey, Libya, Qadhaffi, Ghaddafi, Libya No Fly Zone, John Kerry, Public Opinion, India, Brazil, Barack Obama, Muslim World, World News

The Arab spring has offered a Sputnik moment for U.S. foreign policy, as Obama slowly warms up to the idea that transformative change unfortunately necessitates the use of force.

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What "The American People" Really Want

Chris Weigant | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Social Security, Debt, Tea Party, Wealthy, President Obama, Pentagon, Jobs, Public Opinion, Obama, Poll, Tax the Rich, Wall Street Journal, Bush Tax Cuts, Republican, Government, Deficit, Defense, Polling, Gas, House, Cuts, Budget, Millionaires, Democrat, Nbc, Cut, The American People, Congress, Medicaid, Subsidies, Rich, Planned Parenthood, Barack Obama, Epa, Education, Earmarks, Tax, Chris Weigant, Oil, Medicare, Politics News

A new poll by the Wall Street Journal and NBC says that 74% of Americans think that eliminating oil and gas industry tax breaks is a good idea, while 77% oppose cutting social security.

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Study: Public Sees Both Parties Cutting Deficits The Wrong Way

HuffingtonPost.com | Dan Froomkin | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Public Opinion, Deficit, 2012 Budget, Budget Polls, Polling, Deficit Polls, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- If the public actually set the public agenda, we'd be cutting the deficit much differently than either the Democrats or the Republicans ...

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Overstating Reagan's Effect on Public Opinion

Brendan Nyhan | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Public Opinion, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, Pollster Analysis, Obama Reagan, Politics News

Reagan's powers of persuasion have been wildly overstated. Obama's "bromance" with the phony narrative of Reagan's presidency is likely to lead him astray.

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Why Sputnik?

Bill Schneider | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Third Way, President Obama, Jobs, Goverment, Public Opinion, China, Competition, Sputnik, Deficit, Infrastructure, Education, Crisis, Constitution, Tea Party, State of the Union, Economy, Sotu, State of the Union 2011, Sotu 2011, Politics News

I was around for the launching of Sputnik in 1957. It created a huge wave of shock and paranoia. Obama was trying to create a mood of crisis in the country, and for a reason: That's the only way we get things done.

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'How Everybody Exists' Doesn't Have to Be

Wendell Potter | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Lobbying, Lobbyists, Public Opinion, Democracy, Sicko, Health Insurance, Michael Moore, Corporate America, Corporations, Ethics, Public Relations, Health Care Reform, Wendell Potter, Spin, Universal Health Care, Apco Worldwide, Corporate Greed, Health Care, Business News

The surprising gem in an Inquirer piece was that APCO VP Bill Pierce agreed with me. He acknowledged that interest-funded pressure groups "are all over the place" in Washington. "That's how everybody exists here," Pierce said.

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Obama Should Beware Reagan Myths

Brendan Nyhan | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Public Opinion, Ronald Reagan, Bully Pulpit, Barack Obama, Pollster Analysis, Politics News

With Obama's staffing changes, it's worth noting that he's been reading and soliciting outside advice. He's signaled he's reviewing Reagan's presidency by reading a biography. But is he getting an accurate picture?

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