Muslims approve of President Obama more than any other American religious group. Gallup finds no evidence of reduced Democratic strength among college age Americans. And we're guessing LeBron's Ohio polling numbers are headed up. This is HuffPollster for Friday, July 11, 2014.
BREAKING DOWN OBAMA'S APPROVAL RATING BY RELIGION - Jeffrey M. Jones: "Seventy-two percent of U.S. Muslims approved of the job President Barack Obama was doing as president during the first six months of 2014, higher than any other U.S. religious group Gallup tracks. Mormons were least approving, at 18%. In general, majorities of those in non-Christian religions -- including those who do not affiliate with any religion -- approved of Obama, while less than a majority of those in the three major Christian religious groups did….The relative rank order of the religious groups on job approval has been consistent throughout Obama's presidency. In fact, the current rank order, with Muslims most approving and Mormons least, exactly matches the order seen over the more than five years he has been in office since January 2009. Moreover, current job approval among each religious subgroup is between five and seven percentage points lower than the full 2009-2014 average for each." [Gallup]
YOUNG AMERICANS LEAN MORE INDEPENDENT, DEMOCRATIC - Frank Newport: "Young Americans in their 20s and 30s today share two important political characteristics -- they are the most likely of any age group to eschew identification with either party, and, among those who do have a political identity, they are the most likely, along with older baby boomers, to tilt toward the Democratic Party….There is no sign of a pending reduction in Democratic strength among even the very youngest adult Americans. Those 18 and 19 years of age, many of whom may still be living at home, are slightly more likely to identify with or lean toward one of the two major parties than those between 20 and 30 years of age. But among those 20 to 30, the Democratic tilt is fairly consistent." [Gallup]
POLITICIANS: AMERICA'S #1 SOURCE OF STRESS - Christopher Ingraham: "The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation just released a wide-ranging survey on the prevalence and causes of stress in the U.S….Americans cited 'hearing about what the government or politicians are doing' as the most frequent daily stressor on their lives, and at a substantially higher rate than the usual annoyances like commuting, chores and general schedule-juggling." [WashPost]
LEBRON POLLING FLASHBACK - PPP, describing a poll fielded in July 2012: "The days of Ohioans’ jersey-burning hatred for ex-Cleveland Cavalier LeBron James may soon be coming to an end. 29% of Ohio voters have a favorable opinion of 2012 NBA Finals MVP James, up from 15% in February, when Ohio voters were last polled on their opinion of James. The poll was taken the weekend after the 3-time regular season MVP won his first title, a sign that winning rings may be the only way for James to repair his damaged relationship with his home state. 39% of Ohio voters have an unfavorable opinion of James, which is 7 points higher than the 32% who say they are fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers, suggesting that dislike for James is not limited to spurned Cavalier fans." [PPP]
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FRIDAY'S 'OUTLIERS' - Links to the best of news at the intersection of polling, politics and political data:
-Rasmussen finds Lindsey Graham 19 points ahead of his Democratic challenger. [Rasmussen]
-Massachusetts political insiders expect Martha Coakley to win the Democratic nomination for Governor. [Boston Magazine]
-Americans still see the economy as stagnant, despite a falling unemployment rate. [YouGov]
-Emma Green takes issue with a Gallup poll question about religion. [Atlantic]
-Amy Walter ponders a 2016 without Hillary Clinton. [Cook]
-Kyle Kondik finds incumbents are doing better than average in primaries so far in 2014. [Sabato]
-Philip Bump charts Florida's excessive gerrymandering. [WashPost]
-This isn't a pie chart -- it's a line graph about pies. [WSJ]