What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls: Week Ending May 22, 2009
Remember, if it’s in the news, it’s in our polls. And was it ever this week.
Politics
Most Recent Releases
May 23, 2009
May 22, 2009
77% See Politicians Unwillingness to Cut Government Spending as Bigger Problem Than Voter Resistance to Tax Hikes
For nearly four-out-of-five U.S. voters, the problem is not their unwillingness to pay taxes. It’s their elected representatives’ refusal to cut the size of government.
May 21, 2009
31% Say Healthy Should Be Required to Buy Health Insurance
Some Americans, generally younger adults and those in good health, decide on their own not to buy health insurance. But the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 31% of the nation’s adults believe even those who are young and healthy should be required to buy health coverage.
May 21, 2009
55% Back Higher Fuel-Efficiency Standards – Even If Car Costs More
Most Americans agree with President Obama’s push for higher fuel efficiency even if, as expected, it increases the cost of a new car.
May 21, 2009
39% Say U.S. Legal System Too Worried About Individual Rights Over National Security
In the tension between individual rights and national security, 39% of voters nationwide now believe that our legal system worries too much about protecting individual rights.
May 20, 2009
59% of Minnesota Voters Expect Pawlenty to Run For President
Most Minnesota voters like the job Governor Tim Pawlenty is doing, and even more expect him to run for president in 2012. But they don’t think he’ll get the Republican Party’s nomination.
May 20, 2009
50% Support More Taxes on Alcohol To Help Fund Universal Health Care
Fifty percent (50%) of Americans favor increasing taxes on beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages to help provide health insurance for every one in the country.
May 19, 2009
54% in Minnesota Say Coleman Should Concede Senate Race to Franken
Fifty-four percent (54%) of Minnesota voters say Republican incumbent Norm Coleman should concede the race after months of legal challenges and let Al Franken be seated in the U.S. Senate. But 41% disagree.
May 18, 2009
New York Governor: Cuomo Leads GOP, Paterson Trails
Governor David Paterson faces an uphill climb if he goes through with his announced plan to ask voters for his own four-year term in office.
May 18, 2009
50% Favor Building More Nuke Plants in U.S.
Just one-out-of-three voters (34%) now believe global warming is caused by human activity, the lowest finding yet in Rasmussen Reports national surveying. However, a plurality (48%) of the Political Class believes humans are to blame.
May 18, 2009
Michelle Obama Is Popular On Campus, Still Popular With Most Voters
Students at the newest campus in the University of California system lobbied hard to get Michelle Obama as their graduation speaker this past weekend, and that same kind of popularity is reflected in the first lady’s ratings in a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
May 18, 2009
42% Favor Free Health Care For All Americans – Unless Their Own Coverage Has To Change
Americans are evenly divided over the idea of making free health care available to every one in the country, but opposition grows dramatically when their own health insurance is involved.
May 18, 2009
54% Say Illegal Drug Use Is Primarily A Criminal Problem, Not Health Issue
Fifty-four percent (54%) of U.S. voters say illegal drug use is primarily a criminal justice issue rather than a matter of public health.
May 18, 2009
43% Say CIA May Have Misled Pelosi, 41% Disagree
Forty-three percent (43%) of voters nationwide say that it’s at least somewhat likely that the Central Intelligence Agency misled Nancy Pelosi about the use of waterboarding when interrogating prisoners.
May 17, 2009
56% of Uninsured Rate U.S. Health Care System as Poor, 26% Receive Poor Care
Most Americans without health insurance (56%) rate the U.S. health care system as poor. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 20% of the uninsured believe the system as good or excellent.
May 16, 2009
What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Week Ending May 15, 2009
Health care reform, one of President Barack Obama’s top priorities, was in the news a lot this past week.
May 15, 2009
32% Would Pay Higher Taxes to Provide Health Insurance for All
Thirty-two percent (32%) of American adults say they’d be willing to pay higher taxes so that health insurance could be provided for all Americans. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 54% say they’re not willing to pay more in taxes.
May 15, 2009
Only 37% of GOP Voters Now Say Party Is Leaderless
As the old political saying goes, you can’t beat somebody with nobody. But a plurality of national Republican voters still think nobody’s running the show for the GOP.
May 15, 2009
Public Backs Military Tribunals for Suspected Terrorists
President Obama’s decision to keep the military commission system in place for the trials of suspected terrorists moves him closer to public opinion on the topic.
May 15, 2009
35% Rate U.S. Health Care Good or Excellent
Thirty-five percent (35%) of Americans rate the nation’s health care system as good or excellent. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 34% of the nation’s adults say the health care system is fair and 30% rate it as poor.
