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Four years ago it was 61 percent. I had a theory to explain the most recent drop when I started reading the poll, but now that I’ve looked at the trends over time, it just doesn’t hold up. I thought this new low was a reaction to the shutdown last fall; the first big dip in tea-party popularity came after the first debt-ceiling standoff in 2011, after all, so it would stand to reason that a new economic disruption would drive the numbers down further. Ted Cruz was on camera throughout the process promoting “defund” so tea partiers are bearing...

Pollster John Zogby reports in our weekly White House report card that President Obama is no longer seen as an agent of change, but the boss of an oppressive national security state. "Not only did the president not get a triumph from his Asia trip, but he hit a wall of bad news. First quarter economic growth is worse than expected, just 0.1 percent. "Next, the administration admits that its Middle East efforts is on life support. And the Europeans haven't jumped on board with another round of sanctions against Russia. “Mr. Obama is no longer seen as the transformational...

Democrats face serious obstacles as they look to the November elections, with President Obama’s approval rating at a new low and a majority of voters saying they prefer a Congress in Republican hands to check the president’s agenda, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Obama’s approval rating fell to 41 percent, down from 46 percent through the first three months of the year and the lowest of his presidency in Post-ABC News polls. Just 42 percent approve of his handling of the economy, 37 percent approve of how he is handling the implementation of the Affordable Care Act...

Republicans need to win six Senate seats to take control of the upper chamber, and most scenarios for victory include the Southern seats up for grabs. A poll out today from the New York Times and the Kaiser Family Foundation suggests that may be tougher than first thought. Mark Pryor, considered to be one of the most vulnerable incumbents in the midterms, has a ten-point lead over his Republican challenger, Rep. Tom Cotton: The survey underscores a favorable political environment over all for Republicans in Kentucky, North Carolina, Louisiana and Arkansas — states President Obama lost in 2012 and where...

A new Fox News poll goes a long way to explaining the growing anxiety among Democrats about the upcoming midterm elections. Not only is support for Obama and his signature Obamacare law underwater, both are more unpopular than they were at this point ahead of the mid-term elections in 2010. Support for the Democrats and Obamacare, in fact, is less than it was on the eve of the 2010 election, when Republicans routed Democrats up and down the ballot. Today, just 42% of voters approve of the job Obama is doing as President, while 51% disapprove. Among Independents, Obama fares...

With a margin of error +/- 3%, Rasmussen found “Americans’ belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ remains strong.” 86% of American adults believe that Jesus Christ walked the Earth 2,000 years ago, while just seven percent (7%) don’t share this belief. Furthermore, 77% of those polled believe Jesus rose from the dead.  This is only a percentage point lower (within the margin of error) than in 2011 and 2010, when 78% espoused the same belief. Rasmussen claims a 95% level of confidence in their report.

April 18, 2014, 09:45 am Fox poll: Most think Obama lies to the nation By Justin Sink Roughly six in 10 voters believe President Obama occasionally lies to the nation about important matters, according to a Fox News poll released this week. According to the survey, 37 percent of respondents believe the president lies "most of the time," while just under a quarter think Obama is deceitful "some of the time." Two out of every 10 voters say the president fibs "only now and then" and 15 percent say the president is always truthful. Of those who say the president...

The Washington Post released a lengthy article this weekend based on a survey of 819 veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Buried deep in the article by Post reporter Rajiv Chandrasekaran, who spent two years in Iraq as the Post’s bureau chief, is this bombshell: “When it comes to their most-senior commander, the vets decisively prefer George W. Bush to Obama. Only a third approve of the way Obama is handling his job, and 42 percent of them think he has been a good commander in chief despite his decisions to bring troops home from Iraq, wind down...

Virginia, considered a swing state, is swinging blue for U.S. Sen. Mark Warner in his reelection drive this year and for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton if she runs for the White House in 2016, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Sen. Warner tops former White House aide Ed Gillespie, a possible Republican challenger, 46 - 31 percent, with 6 percent for Libertarian candidate Robert Sarvis, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. Virginia voters say 49 - 36 percent that Warner deserves reelection. They approve 55 - 33 percent of the job he is doing and...

A new poll of registered Georgia Republican primary voters shows businessman David Perdue leading his fellow GOP candidates for the U.S. Senate, with congressman Jack Kingston in second. Perdue gets 29 percent support, according to the Survey USA poll, while Kingston gets 19 percent. Three other candidates are effectively tied for third: congressman Phil Gingrey (12 percent), congressman Paul Broun (11 percent), and former secretary of state Karen Handel (10 percent).

Former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown announced Friday that he is laying the groundwork for a possible challenge against incumbent Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire, but Shaheen is comfortably ahead of Brown for now in Rasmussen Reports’ first look at the possible U.S. Senate race in the Granite State. A new statewide survey of Likely New Hampshire Voters finds Shaheen with 50% support to Brown’s 41%. Four percent (4%) like some other candidate in the race, and five percent (5%) are undecided.

Explore...Obama's approval ratings...

This news hit yesterday, just before the start of CPAC 2014, but it seems to have attracted a little more attention today — perhaps in part because the CPAC conference has a controversy of its own over the pro-life issue. A new CNN poll shows a wide majority of Americans think abortion should be illegal in most or all circumstances, although it’s the circumstances that might be the issue: About one in four Americans say that abortion should be legal in all circumstances, one in five say abortion should always be illegal, and slightly over half the public thinks abortion...

For the first time, a majority of Americans think President Barack Obama is not respected among world leaders, according to a new poll that found opinion has plunged “dramatically” in the past year. Fifty-three percent now say Obama is not respected on the international stage, up from 43 percent a year ago, the Gallup poll on Monday shows. And the number who say they believe the president is respected has dropped to 41 percent from 51 percent over the same time, the poll found.

**SNIP** Midterm elections are often a reflection of the approval rating of the incumbent president and now President Obama stands at 42.8%. And elections in the 6th year of a PresidentÂ’s term are usually not good for the incumbentÂ’s party. To make things even worse for Democrats, the issues of a weak economy and Obamacare make November look bleak for Harry Reid and his Senate Democratic cohorts. â—¾Alaska, Mark Begich â—¾Arkansas, Mark Pryor â—¾Louisiana, Mary Landrieu â—¾Michigan, Open Seat (liberal Democrat Carl Levin retiring) â—¾Montana, John Walsh â—¾North Carolina, Kay Hagan â—¾South Dakota, being vacated by retiring Democrat Tim Johnson...

Conservative Sens. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul top the biggest Tea Party presidential poll yet, while moderates New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are dumped at the bottom, undermining their hopes of being 2016 crossover candidates. The online poll of 62,000 grassroots activists provided exclusively to Secrets finds that conservatives and Tea Party organizers stand fully behind the heroes of their movement, including outspoken surgeon Ben Carson, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

Fifty-five percent of Americans reported in a new Gallup poll that they are dissatisfied overall with American gun laws and policies, an increase from 51 percent in 2013 and just 42 percent in 2012. But the most dramatic rise in dissatisfaction comes from the contingency of Americans who feel gun laws are too strict, rather than from those who think they aren't strict enough. This percentage jumped to 16 percent this year, a rate that more than triples the 5 percent recorded by Gallup last year. Meanwhile, the percentage of Americans favoring stricter gun laws fell seven points in 2014,...

The balance in the 2014 race for a majority in the Senate seems to have shifted -- toward the Republicans. Two polls released today showed Louisiana Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu trailing Republican challenger John Cassidy and New Hampshire Democratic incumbent Jeanne Shaheen running even with former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown. Here is how Republicans are faring in seven seats that are up in states carried by Mitt Romney. I've shown the Real Clear Politics averages or, when that wasn't available, an average from the two most recent public polls (an asterisk means there wasn't an RCP average available). Following that...

A Quinnipiac poll released last week is a stark reminder of just how out of touch President Obama and the mainstream media are when it comes to the concerns and priorities of everyday Americans. Anyone at all familiar with the issues Obama and his media intend to push in 2014, knows that it is going to be a year all about income inequality, the minimum wage, immigration, and guns. This, even though 99% of the public do not consider those issues a priority.

According to new polling from Quinnipiac, a majority of Americans view President Obama's White House as incompetent. In addition, a majority of Americans are still questioning Obama's character and view him as dishonest and untrustworthy. The Obama administration is not competent running the government, voters say 53 - 42 percent. The president is paying attention to what his administration is doing, 45 percent say, while 47 percent say he is not paying attention. The president's character measures remain low: 46 percent say he is honest and trustworthy and 49 percent say he is not; 49 percent say he is...