John McCain’s camp signaled last week that the Republican might name a running mate to deflect some of the media glare from Barack Obama’s overseas trip, but ultimately no names were announced. Meanwhile, at least one of the key contenders for the job, Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, announced that he is not interested.
Barack Obama was the political news this week, despite John McCain’s best efforts to get some of the media focus directed his way.
Just over half of all voters (51%) approve of President Bush’s decision to attend the Opening Ceremony, while 22% disapprove. Men are slightly more likely to approve of the President’s decision than women.
Despite growing confidence that the U.S. and its allies are winning the war on terror, most Americans (52%) still believe it’s more important for the next president to bring the troops home from Iraq than win the war there.
Over half of Americans (55%) rate Barack Obama’s historic speech in Berlin yesterday good or excellent, and the Democratic presidential candidate is experiencing a modest bounce over John McCain nationally in the latest Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.
Voters who have served in the U.S. military favor John McCain over Barack Obama by a 56% to 37% margin.
Most Americans believe suspected terrorists should be tried by military tribunals rather than in U.S. courts, as the first such trial began this week at the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba.
While Barack Obama has touted his travel to the Middle East and Europe this week as a “fact-finding” trip, 63% of Americans do not believe it makes the Democratic candidate any more qualified to be president.
With Washington abuzz over speculation that John McCain will announce his running mate this week to take some of the focus off Barack Obama’s overseas travels, over a third of U.S. voters say Mitt Romney will be the Republican vice presidential candidate.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 63% of Americans want the troops brought home from Iraq within a year.
Only 33% of American voters believe Al Gore’s proposal to switch all of the nation's electricity production to wind, solar and other carbon-free sources in 10 years is realistic. And, beyond the Democratic Party base, most voters think Gore’s plan will make energy prices go up.
The idea that reporters are trying to help Obama win in November has grown by five percentage points over the past month. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey, taken just before the new controversy involving the New York Times erupted, found that 49% of voters believe most reporters will try to help the Democrat with their coverage, up from 44% a month ago.
Forty-two percent (42%) of Americans say that if Israel launches an attack against Iran, the United States should help Israel. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 46% believe the United States should do nothing while just 1% believe the U.S. should help Iran.
Is the U.S. winning the war on terror? Nearly half of Americans said yes this past week while only 20% gave the nod to the terrorists, a dramatic improvement over the past year and the most positive margin we’ve recorded since Rasmussen Reports began tracking on the issue in January 2004.
Even as a growing number of Americans appear to believe the United States is finally winning the war on terror, a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that nearly half (48%) agree with Barack Obama that Iraq is not the central front in that war.
Nearly eight out of 10 Americans (78%) think Iran is likely to soon develop nuclear weapons, and over half say the Iranians will not halt their program no matter who is elected president, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Barack Obama says a vote for John McCain is a vote for George W. Bush’s third term, but a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that the Democratic hopeful would have a much easier time of it if he were actually running against the incumbent president this year.
The number of Americans who believe it is possible for the U.S. to win the War in Iraq has increased over the past year.
Over the past week, the Presidential race got a little closer, perceptions of Congress fell a little further, and there was plenty of talk about the economy.
Rasmussen Markets data on Friday morning shows that Hillary Clinton is given a 16% chance of becoming her party’s Vice-Presidential nominee. Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius is a close second at 15% and Indiana Senator Evan Bayh is the only other Democrat to reach double digits at 12%.
