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WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans appear to be suspicious of Hillary Rodham Clinton's honesty, and even many Democrats are only lukewarm about her presidential candidacy, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll. Is she strong and decisive? Yes, say a majority of people. But inspiring and likable? Only a minority think so.

a new poll shows that Republican voters who rally to that cry still want to maintain many federal programs. The results, from an online poll of 4,770 adults from April 10 to 24, highlight a dilemma for Republican candidates such as Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas who have made reducing the size of government a top campaign theme.

The incumbent Republican senator from New Hampshire opened up a six-point over Gov. Margaret “Maggie” Hassan, her presumptive Democratic challenger in the April 21-22 Townhall/Gravis poll of 1,117 voters. Sen. Kelly A. Ayotte (R.-N.H.), who was endorsed in 2010 by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, is building a solid lead over Hassan, said Doug Kaplan, the managing partner of Gravis Insights, the Florida-based firm that conducted the poll. Hassan has not announced. Ayotte leads with voters under 50, 52 percent to Hassan’s 40 percent and support of 88 percent of Republicans, he said. Hassan holds the support of 82 percent...

It’s not the first time we’ve seen this dynamic, although the situation becomes more acute as John Kerry and Barack Obama press on towards a deal with Iran. The latest poll from Quinnipiac shows a majority of Americans want to embrace a deal, but are pessimistic about its ability to curtail Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons: American voters support 58 – 33 percent the preliminary agreement with Iran to restrict that country’s nuclear program, according to a Quinnipiac University National poll released today.At the same time, only 35 percent of voters are “very confident” or “somewhat confident” the agreement...

The Bush dynasty is a negative for voters and Marco Rubio is seen as a leader of the future, as the Florida senator jumps to the head of the GOP pack. The Clinton dynasty is a plus -- and even though Hillary could have an honesty problem, she dominates the Democratic side. And both the Republican faithful (with their crowded field) and the Democratic faithful (with their sole favorite) are happy with their range of 2016 choices. These are some of the findings from the latest Fox News poll on the 2016 presidential election. Here are some more: Announcing your...

Washington (AFP) - Hillary Clinton and Marco Rubio are early frontrunners to become the next president of the United States, according to a well-regarded poll released Thursday. The youthful but relatively inexperienced Rubio launched his campaign earlier this month, calling for a new era of American leadership that is not "stuck in the 20th century." Rubio was the only Republican candidate to have double-digit support among hardline Tea Party supporters, evangelicals and party liberals.

A record-high 6 in 10 Americans support same-sex marriage and a similar share say individual states should not be allowed to define marriage as only between a man and a woman, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The national debate on same-sex marriage moves to center stage next week, when the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on whether state restrictions on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional. Courts across the country have agreed with gay-marriage advocates that a Supreme Court ruling in 2013, striking down the federal government’s refusal to recognize legal same-sex unions, means that state restrictions must fall...

Marco Rubio leads the GOP field in a new national poll and runs best against Hillary Clinton, a big shot for his campaign that's just over a week into effect. Rubio takes 15 percent of the GOP primary vote, according to the Quinnipiac poll, with Jeb Bush earning 13 percent and Scott Walker 11 percent. No other candidate tops 9 percent and 14 percent remain undecided. Clinton naturally blows away any Democratic competition and other Republicans, except 43-year-old Rubio. In a general election matchup, Clinton gets 45 percent of American voters to 43 percent for Rubio. That's better than other...

Perhaps you will find no issue reflecting a greater divide among Utahns that whether LDS Church leaders have too much influence in the Utah Legislature. A new UtahPolicy poll by Dan Jones & Associates finds that three-fourths of the faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints say their church has “about the right amount of influence” on state lawmakers’ political decisions. But when you ask the same influence question of non-Mormons, you find super-majorities – 79 percent of Catholics, 84 percent of Protestants – say the Mormon Church has too much influence on Capitol Hill. Now,...

Rubio’s out-polling Rand Paul among tea partiers now, eh? Interesting footnote to the CNN results: Of the three Republicans who’ve formally announced they’re running, only two have seen their numbers improve since last month. Cruz gained three points (not coincidentally, Ben Carson, a competitor for the social conservative vote, lost five) and Rubio gained four points. Rand actually lost a point after jumping in. Maybe all of that is just an artifact of the margin of error, or maybe it’s an early warning that Rand’s “conservatarian” ceiling will be lower than everyone thinks.

... Statues of ... historical figures stand in the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall, where each state has two representatives cast in bronze or marble ... [Father Junipero] Serra could be the first and only actual saint in Statuary Hall -- Pope Francis recently announced plans to canonize him -- yet he's also a polarizing figure. Is it time to send Serra to the sidelines (or more accurately, move his statue to the California Capitol grounds)? ... Take our pointedly unreliable poll, leave a comment or do both! ...

Republicans are most enthusiastic about the prospects of nominating Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker for president, a new HuffPost/YouGov poll finds, but they're open to rallying around a number of potential candidates--with the possible exception of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.Members of the party are generally optimistic that whoever emerges from the crowded field of prospects will succeed. Three-quarters of Republicans predict their party will win back the presidency next year, and most look favorably on several of the politicians fighting for the nomination.Walker generated the most excitement of the six candidates tested, with 45 percent saying they'd be enthusiastic to...

As the Republican presidential candidates gather this weekend in New Hampshire, they’re all chasing a midwestern governor. The latest survey of New Hampshire Republicans, by liberal-leaning Public Policy Polling, finds Wisconsin’s Scott Walker with a strong lead at 24 percent, followed by a rising Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Establishment favorite Jeb Bush is currently mired in fourth place, with 10 percent support, a drop from the last PPP poll of the first-in-the-nation primary state. Other polls show the race remains tight. The RealClearPolitics average has Walker at 19 percent, followed by Bush at 15 percent and Sen. Rand Paul at...

According to a new Rasmussen poll, nearly six in 10 voters believe that Hillary Rodham Clinton will be the next president. But perception is not reality, as an MSNBC poll seems to indicate.The poll, which appeared on the MSNBC website on Tuesday morning, shows that 86% of MSNBC readers who responded would not vote for Hillary Clinton in the upcoming presidential election. Only 13% responded in the affirmative and a mere 2% said “maybe.”The poll, while not scientific, strongly suggests that progressives do not prefer to have a baggage-laden career politician as their party’s standard bearer in 2016. 

Ahead of a major gathering of Republican presidential hopefuls in New Hampshire later this week, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has put some distance between himself and the rest of the field, leading by 10 points against his nearest competitor in a new poll on the Granite State. Mr. Walker is the top presidential choice for 24 percent of GOP primary voters, according to the poll out Wednesday from the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling. Next was Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at 14 percent, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky at 12 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 10...

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas got the ball rolling: On March 23, he announced he was running for president and became the first Republican to enter the 2016 presidential race. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky quickly followed suit and became the second Republican to officially declare his candidacy. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida officially joined the race Monday. They could all face New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in the Republican primary. Though the governor of the Garden State hasn’t officially declared, Christie has formed a political action committee to explore a run is in New Hampshire for a week...

Hillary? Rand Paul? Ted Cruz? Marco Rubio? Four major candidates have stepped forward to run for the Democratic and Republican nominations for president, and a few more are sure to follow soon. Their entrances into the race couldn’t be more different. Republicans Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, and Ted Cruz went the more traditional route with kickoff events. Hillary Rodham Clinton went big on social with a much anticipated video and tweet combination, but is keeping events low-key to start – except for a Monday evening visit to Chipotle. So who’s winning the media battle at this very early stage? Take...

Free this poll.

A new poll shows New Hampshire Republicans leaning toward Scott Walker over Jeb Bush, with Rand Paul, who announced his candidacy and visited the Granite State this week, in third place. The NH1 poll released Friday shows Walker, the Wisconsin governor, leading Bush, 23 percent to 17 percent – outside the margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Paul, the first-term Kentucky senator, is at 15 percent.

Oh, Look Who’s Suddenly Tied With Hillary… Just About Everybody! D.C. Conventional Wisdom: “Hillary’s unstoppable, Republicans begin with giant disadvantages, Rand Paul is this wacko Libertarian fruitcake, and he could never wiiiii -WHA?”>>>>Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s lead is wilting against leading Republican presidential candidates in three critical swing states, Colorado, Iowa and Virginia, and she finds herself in a close race with U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky in each state, according to a Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll released today. In head-to-head matchups, every Republican candidate effectively ties her in Colorado and almost all Republicans effectively tie...