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We all know in a presidential election year there is a surge in the number of people following political news and the intensity with which they’re paying attention to it. This is usually followed by a precipitous drop in the year that follows as the big decision has been made and Americans can continue going about their business as usual. In this respect, the 2008 election was no different, nor is this year following it. Gallup national survey tracking shows that 43% of Americans say they “very closely” followed news about national politics last year, up from 30% in 2007....

Fifty-nine percent (59%) of U.S. voters favor putting a provision in the health care reform plan that would prohibit any new taxes, fees or penalties on families who make less than $250,000 a year. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that just 22% of voters oppose such a provision. Nineteen percent (19%) are not sure. During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama said, “No family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.” But 72% of...

Scott Rasmussen periodically polls Americans on whether their country is "generally fair and decent," as opposed to "basically unfair and discriminatory." The former view, of course, tends to predominant, but the latest results are rather sad: Just 60% of U.S. voters now say that American society is generally fair and decent, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. That's down nine points since late August and the lowest measure since President Obama took office in January, fueled in large part by growing unhappiness among African-American voters. Twenty-seven percent (27%) of all voters say U.S. society is basically unfair...

The health care reform plan working its way through the U.S. Senate now includes a proposal that requires young and healthy Americans to either buy health insurance or pay a $750 annual penalty for not having it. But a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 55% of U.S. voters oppose that proposal. Among voters ages 18 to 29, 29% favor the provision, known as “the individual mandate,” while 57% are opposed to it. Sixty-one percent (61%) of men oppose the enforced health insurance proposal, compared to 50% of women. African-American voters are nearly twice as likely as whites...

New York City Kidnaps and Force-Drugs Kids...

OSLO (Oct. 9) -- President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, citing his outreach to the Muslim world and attempts to curb nuclear proliferation.

But Republicans get their lowest grades since Obama was elected on several measures: * Voters disapprove 64 - 25 percent of the way Republicans in Congress are doing their job, with 42 percent of Republican voters disapproving; * Only 29 percent think Republicans on Capitol Hill are acting in good faith; * Voters trust Obama more than Republicans 47 - 31 percent to handle health care; * Voters 53 - 25 percent have an unfavorable opinion of the Republican Party.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 29% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-seven percent (37%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -8 (see trends). Republicans hold a four-point edge on the Generic Congressional Ballot. The New Jersey Governor’s race is now a toss-up and a third of the voters say they could still change their mind before voting. Fifty-nine percent (59%) favor changing the proposed health care plans so that no new taxes or fees are paid by...

GALLUP: OBAMA CLINGS TO 50% APPROVAL

NEW YORK - President Barack Obama's approval ratings are starting to rise after declining ever since his inauguration, new poll figures show as the country's mood begins to brighten. But concerns about the economy, health care and war persist, and support for the war in Afghanistan is falling. An Associated Press-GfK poll says 56 percent of those surveyed in the past week approve of Obama's job performance, up from 50 percent in September. It's the first time since he took office in January that his rating has gone up. People also feel better about his handling of the economy and...

A new Quinnipiac University poll found Republican challenger Pat Toomey with a narrow lead over Sen. Arlen Specter. Statistically, the survey's trial race -- 43 percent for Mr. Toomey and 42 percent for the incumbent -- was essentially identical to the school's last survey in July, when Mr. Specter was ahead by the similarly tiny margin of 45 percent to 44 percent. Both results were well within the survey's 3 percentage point margin of error. But the reversal of their positions threw a symbolic spotlight on the veteran's vulnerability in the closely watched race. When he made his surprising departure...

RCP Average 9/23 - 10/4 -- 50.3 43.0 McDonnell +7.3 SurveyUSA 10/2 - 10/4 608 LV 54 43 McDonnell +11 Rasmussen 9/29 - 9/29 500 LV 51 42 McDonnell +9 PPP (D) 9/25 - 9/28 576 LV 48 43 McDonnell +5 InsiderAdvantage 9/23 - 9/23 602 RV 48 44 McDonnell +4

Gallup Daily

Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson beats Lieutenant Governor Daniel Mongiardo by seven points 44% to 37%. Four percent (4%) of Kentucky voters like some other candidate, and 14% are undecided. Both men have announced their candidacies. Mongiardo was the unsuccessful Democratic challenger to Bunning in 2004. Grayson runs dead-even 40% to 40% against another announced Democratic candidate, state Attorney General Jack Conway, with just three percent (3%) opting for some other candidate. Seventeen percent (17%) are undecided. Rand Paul, an opthamologist and the son of Congressman Ron Paul, also has announced his bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in...

Fifty-five percent (55%) of likely voters say the nation’s current economic problems are due to the recession which began under President George W. Bush, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Thirty-seven percent (37%) say the current economic problems are caused by the policies President Obama has put in place since taking office. These findings have remained relatively stable since May. Eighty-seven percent (87%) of Democratic voters blame Bush; 65% of Republicans blame Obama. Fifty percent (50%) of unaffiliated voters attribute the current economic situation to the Bush administration.

It has been 11 months since The One was elected and vowed to "fundamentally transform America." Well, he is trying to do that, but hasn't succeeded in anything other than passing an $800 billion pork bill and raising the cigarette tax. Everything else, from Gitmo, to Cap and Trade, to Afghanistan, to Health Care has been either a failure or is an impending failure. Those policies that gave the Democrat Party wings in 2008 have in 2009 turned into cement shoes that are dragging them to the bottom. The trends tell the tale.

The 2010 U.S. Senate race in Delaware is all about the candidates who haven’t decided whether to run yet. The first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 survey in the state finds that longtime Republican Congressman Mike Castle beats state Attorney General Beau Biden by five points – 47% to 42% - in a hypothetical match-up for the seat Biden’s father held for 36 years. Five percent (5%) like some other candidate, and six percent (6%) are undecided.

The majority of the American people do not approve of Obama's health care plan. Current Associate Press poll place the disapproval rate at 52%. President Obama plans on making health care reform a reality, including taxing those who fail to comply, in spite of what the American people want. Support by Chicagoan's for the 2016 Olympics to be held in Chicago in 2016 has gone from 62% in February to 47% on September 3rd. President Obama is helping his buddy Mayor Daley, and is making a special Air Force One flight to Denmark to make certain that Chicago is the...

The 2010 U.S. Senate race in Delaware is all about the candidates who haven’t decided whether to run yet. The first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 survey in the state finds that longtime Republican Congressman Mike Castle beats state Attorney General Beau Biden by five points – 47% to 42% - in a hypothetical match-up for the seat Biden’s father held for 36 years. Five percent (5%) like some other candidate, and six percent (6%) are undecided.

For most of the last two decades, a clear majority of Americans has supported the right to abortion. A new poll, though, suggests that support for abortion appears to have declined, with the public almost evenly divided over the issue. The apparent shift has occurred in just the last year. In 2008, a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center found that those in favor of keeping abortion legal outnumbered opponents by 54 to 40 percent. The new poll, also conducted by Pew researchers, and released on Thursday, showed that the gap had narrowed considerably: 47 percent of those surveyed...

<p>TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - The New Jersey Supreme Court has reinstated a ban on exit polls, surveys taken of people as they leave their voting places.</p> <p>It also has kept in place a ban on distributing leaflets or other materials within 100 feet of polling places. It said Wednesday prohibiting such activities will ensure voters feel no obstructions to casting their ballots.</p>

Another Democratic senator may be at-risk in 2010. Arkansas' Blanche Lambert Lincoln trails all four of her leading Republican challengers in the first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 survey in the state. Lincoln fails to get 50% of the vote in any of the match-ups, and any incumbent who falls short of that level is considered vulnerable. In three of the match-ups, however, she is virtually tied with the challengers at this

An increasing number of public opinion polls in the US show a sharp decline in popular support for President Obama and his administration’s policies on health care, the war in Afghanistan and the economic crisis. In the nearly eight months since taking office, the euphoria that greeted Obama’s election has largely evaporated. According to the Rasmussen Presidential Tracking Poll, 53 percent of likely voters disapprove of Obama’s performance. The president—who enjoyed a nearly 70 percent approval rating on Inauguration Day in January 2009—saw his rating fall below 50 percent for the first time in August, dropping to 46 percent. The...

FReepers...now here's the twist to the former "report suspicious emails to the White House" email addy of a few months ago. We all knew they would come up with another way to get email addresses of those who oppose anything this administration does or wants to do. On FaceBook, in the right sidebar, there sometimes appears an ad, actually a survey question that states "You are against Obama care, please take a minute to respond to our survey." So, I clicked on the ad. It showed a picture of a very stern nurse, with her arms folded, and the caption...

Campaign Report; Gallup Poll Shows Carter Leads Reagan, 49% to 41%. I guess it is meaningless that Obama leads Palin by smiliar margins , nearly 3 years from the next election. Obama is far , far down the Carter road of defeat. Too far to turn back now.

Head-to-head with Obama, she’s steady from last month: He led her 52/38 in August and leads 53/38 now. But her favorables are in the toilet, dropping from 47/45 in July to 40/49 in August to … 37/55. The positive spin for Palin fans, I guess, is that the less the public sees of her, the worse she seems to do, which turns the conventional media wisdom on its head. Now that she’s reemerged to hit the lecture circuit, it’ll be interesting to see if she spikes up in October. Another ominous trend: Her favorability among Republicans was higher last month...

The Republican polling firm Rasmussen Reports surveyed 500 "likely voters" in Iowa on September 22 and came up with bad numbers for Governor Chet Culver. Former Governor Terry Branstad leads Culver by 54 percent to 34 percent, and Bob Vander Plaats leads Culver by 43 percent to 39 percent. Culver's approval rating is 43 percent, with 53 percent of respondents disapproving of the job he is doing. Topline results and favorability ratings are here. Culver was viewed very or somewhat favorably by 43 percent of respondents and viewed very or somewhat unfavorably by 50 percent. Branstad's favorability was 64 percent,...

Next year’s U.S. Senate race in Ohio is a neck-and-neck battle for Republican Rob Portman no matter which Democratic candidate he faces, according to the first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 survey in the state. Portman is in a virtual tie with Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher 41% to 40%. Six percent (6%) of Ohio voters favor some other candidate, and 14% are undecided. The former GOP congressman is also essentially even with Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, leading by a similarly insignificant 40% to 38% margin. Five percent (5%) prefer another candidate. Eighteen percent (18%) are not sure how they...

Obama ties his low, trend down

Democrat Robin Carnahan and Republican Roy Blunt are dead even in the first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 survey of the hotly contested race for the U.S. Senate in Missouri. Both candidates capture 46% of the vote in a new telephone survey of Missouri voters. Two percent (2%) favor some other candidate, and five percent (5%) are not sure which candidate they will vote for. Blunt, a member of Congress since 1997, has held the number two GOP position in the House, serving as minority whip. His son was governor of Missouri from 2005 to 2009. Carnahan, currently Missouri’s secretary of...

New York – Despite all racial barriers that were broken down through the years here in the United States, the sad fact remains that racial sentiments is still a factor in America, and has increased with a frightening 112% since the first week of President Obama taking the oath of office.

The new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll asked respondents whether they would prefer to see next year's elections result in a Congress controlled by Democrats or a Congress controlled by Republicans. The result: 48 percent say they would prefer Democrats in control, and 45 percent say Republicans. That three-point Democratic lead is down from seven points lead in July and nine points in April.

Charlie Cook, one of the most respected of the political prognosticators, continues to sound the alarm for Congressional Democrats. Since August, Cook has been telling them they’re headed for electoral disaster in the 2010 midterms if they don’t change their ways. Most of the erosion of support has taken place among independents. Although the country still seems willing to give President Obama the benefit of the doubt, at latest for the time being, they’re not willing to extend that to Congress. The threat to the Democratic majority in the House, unsurprisingly, comes in the districts of the Blue Dogs: "I...

As President Obama described his new policy on missile defense against Iran in Europe, I felt reassured when he promised that scrapping the Bush plan would actually strengthen America’s security. Then I quickly remembered Obama also promised his health care overhaul wouldn’t add a dime to the deficit. Yikes. Run for your life. The moment captured for me what is the greatest mystery about our young president. Why does he continue to squander the public trust he worked so hard to build and that he will need for the many battles to come? The central problem is his relentless push...

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 31% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -9

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of voters without health insurance favor passage of the health care plan proposed by President Obama and Congressional Democrats. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of 504 uninsured voters found that 35% are opposed. Those figures include 30% who Strongly Favor the plan and 26% who are Strongly Opposed. These results were obtained from nightly tracking surveys conducted from September 8-17, a time frame that included the President’s speech and subsequent bounce. Among all voters surveyed during this time frame, 46% favored passage of the health care plan. After the bounce wore off, support for the President’s...

Voters are saying nuts to ACORN, A Rasmussen poll on voter attitudes towards ACORN today shows that 51% of voters want the government to stop funding ACORN. "A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 17% favor continued taxpayer support of the Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now. Thirty-two percent (32%) are not sure." Not only do a majority of voters want to cut off funding for ACORN, the details show a negative "passion index" deeper than the Grand Canyon. Only 15% of voters now have even a somewhat favorable opinion of ACORN, while 67% have an...

Fifty-six percent (56%) of voters nationwide now oppose the health care reform proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. That’s the highest level of opposition yet measured and includes 44% who are Strongly Opposed.

The health care reform legislation working its way through Congress faces many obstacles primarily because it touches so many aspects of life. The abortion issue is one more with the potential to create a lose-lose situation for advocates of the plan. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 48% believe any government-subsidized health care plan should be prohibited from covering abortion procedures. Thirteen percent (13%) believe such plans should be required to cover abortions, and 32% favor a more neutral approach with no requirements in either direction. Among those who currently support passage of the legislation, 22% want...

The Democrats haven't noticed that the canaries are no longer singing in the coal mines. For months, the evidence has been pointing to the 2010 midterms being a repeat of 1994, in which voters punished the Democrats for scandals and overreaching (the latter was largely on the issue of health care reform). Political analysts are seeing the trend and, unless the Democrats change their leadership or their agenda (don't bet the ranch on that), 2010 could make 1994 look like a day at the beach.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 32% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -8 (see trends). Thirty-five percent (35%) believe the U.S. is generally heading in the right direction and investor confidence today reached the highest level of 2009.

I found this poll that asks us freepers to pick the candidate we want for president. Whom do Freepers Prefer For president The day is coming when we all must decide whom we will donate our dwindling money and time to, for political office. While the next presidential election is still 3 years away, it is my opinion we do not have the normal time to waste as we used to. When you consider how much money it will take to defeat the coalition of Obama/Hollywood/Soros/MSM/ACORN, it is imperative we start now. Consider if you will, the amount of money...

Obama will be interviewed Sunday on five shows -- ABC News' "This Week With George Stephanopoulos," CNN's "State of the Nation," CBS's "Face the Nation", NBC's "Meet the Press" and Univision's "Al Punto with Jorge Ramos" -- in what is called a "full Ginsburg."

Republican Kelly Ayotte leads Democrat Paul Hodes by eight points in an early look at New Hampshire’s 2010 race for the U.S. Senate. The first Rasmussen Reports survey of the race to fill the seat being vacated by retiring GOP Senator Judd Gregg shows Ayotte ahead 46% to 38%.

A new USA Today/Gallup Poll shows that President Obama's speech last week to Congress on health care reform did little to allay the public's fears about his plan

Pew Research has just released an interesting study on how people view the media. These are some of the findings of the study as it relates to Black Americans and news media. From Richard Prince’s Journal-isms: African Americans’ lack of confidence in the news media has risen more than that of whites since the election of President Obama, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center that also shows “the public’s assessment of the accuracy of news stories is now at its lowest level in more than two decades of Pew Research surveys.” “We know that African Americans express...

a. Health care -------- Approve -------- ------- Disapprove ------ No NET Strongly Somewhat NET Somewhat Strongly opinion 9/12/09 48 32 15 48 10 38 4 8/17/09 46 27 19 50 8 42 5 7/18/09 49 25 24 44 11 33 7 6/21/09 53 27 26 39 10 29 9 4/24/09 57 NA NA 29 NA NA 13

It appears the public disagreed with my assessment of the president's speech. I found little redeeming in it however both the President's personal popularity and the popularity of his health care reform bill have gotten a small bounce. The most recent evidence is Rasmussen showing an up trend for both health care reform and the president's popularity.

A short report on CNN’s Political Ticker is interesting for what it doesn’t mention in the story as well as its admittedly misleading trumpeted headline that Obama got “double-digit post-speech jump” after his Sept, 9 healthcare speech to a joint session of Congress. First the headline: “CNN Poll: Double-digit post-speech jump for Obama plan.” Reading that headline would lead someone to believe, well, that there was a double-digit jump in Obama’s numbers. After all, that’s what is says. But at the tale of the story the CNN piece the last paragraph admits that these numbers are heavily skewed to Democrats....

When South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson screamed "You lie!" at President Obama Wednesday night, he dragged the paranoia and anti-Obama contempt that marked so many August "town hells" into the chambers of Congress. Wilson's shriek also served as an exclamation point on an undeniable trend: Obama steadily lost support among white voters during this long, hot summer of hate, with his white approval rating dropping by almost one-third, from 63 percent to 43 percent between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Of course Obama never had the support of whites like Joe Wilson, a solid son of the South who served...