If it's in the News, it's in our Polls. Public opinion polling since 2003.

Public Content

Most Recent Releases

White letter R on blue background
September 1, 2009

How They Missed Jaycee By Debra J. Saunders

Since 1999, when he was placed under California parole supervision for a 1976 rape in Nevada, Phillip Garrido, 58, was subject to drug testing, required to wear a GPS device and subject to twice-monthly visits by his state parole officer.

White letter R on blue background
September 1, 2009

Obama Approval Index Month-by-Month: August 2009

When you track the President’s Job Approval on a daily basis, people sometimes get so caught up in the day-to-day fluctuations that they miss the bigger picture. To look at the longer-term trends, Rasmussen Reports has compiled the numbers on a full-month basis and the results can be seen in the graphics below.

White letter R on blue background
September 1, 2009

Biggest Danger to Democrats By Froma Harrop

Flip the calendar pages -- as they do in the old movies to show passage of time -- and stop at Nov. 2, 2010. That will be Election Day. How Congress handles health care reform will influence which party gets to party that night.

White letter R on blue background
September 1, 2009

Fear of Potential Terrorist Attack Has Declined

Forty-nine percent (49%) of Americans believe it is at least somewhat likely that there will be a significant terrorist attack in the United States in the next year. That figure is down from 70% in the summer of 2007 and 58% in December 2008.

White letter R on blue background
August 31, 2009

Rasmussen Reports Daily Prediction Challenge

Due to the tough economic climate, the company that provides our prediction software is no longer in business. For this reason, we will temporarily be suspending the Rasmussen Daily Prediction Challenge. We look forward to providing this feature again in the near future. 

White letter R on blue background
August 31, 2009

Climate Change Bill Gets Mixed Reviews

Since the flurry of activity surrounding its passage by the House in late June, little has been heard about the historic climate change bill aimed at curbing global warming. But the Senate will be tackling the controversial measure when it returns to Washington next week.

White letter R on blue background
August 31, 2009

Americans More Confident About Money They Have In The Bank

Despite their reservations about the government bailout of the financial industry, Americans are clearly less worried about their own money in the bank.

White letter R on blue background
August 31, 2009

Most Voters Say War in Afghanistan Will Worsen In Next Six Months

Fifty-five percent (55%) of U.S. voters now expect the war in Afghanistan to get worse during the next six months, a 14-point jump since the beginning of the month. Confidence is also down in America's conduct of the War on Terror.

White letter R on blue background
August 31, 2009

The End of America's Experiment With Royalty By Michael Barone

Edward Kennedy was buried Saturday, the last son of Joseph and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, the longest-serving member of the only royal political family our democratic republic has ever produced.

White letter R on blue background
August 31, 2009

29% Confident That Congress Knows What It’s Doing on Economy

Two-out-of-three American voters (67%) lack confidence that Congress knows what it’s doing when it comes to the economy.

White letter R on blue background
August 30, 2009

57% Would Like to Replace Entire Congress

If they could vote to keep or replace the entire Congress, just 25% of voters nationwide would keep the current batch of legislators.

White letter R on blue background
August 30, 2009

President Obama Should Pardon CIA Interrogators By Debra J. Saunders

When he served as deputy attorney general, now Attorney General Eric Holder gave a "neutral leaning positive" recommendation that led to President Bill Clinton's pardoning of gazillionaire fugitive Marc Rich, who was on the lam in Switzerland hiding from federal charges of fraud, evading more than $48 million in taxes, racketeering and trading oil with Iran in violation of a U.S. embargo.

White letter R on blue background
August 29, 2009

What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Week Ending August 28, 2009

The death this week of longtime Democratic Senator Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy means one of two things for the troubled health care reform plan proposed by President Obama: Either the plan has lost one of its most powerful advocates or now its supporters have an emotional rallying point to successfully push for passage. Only time will tell.

White letter R on blue background
August 28, 2009

52% Oppose Plan to Sell Beer Cans With School Colors

At least 25 well-known colleges and universities nationwide have asked Anheuser-Busch to drop its “Fan Cans” campaign, which features school colors on Bud Light cans, amidst fears it will promote underage drinking.

White letter R on blue background
August 28, 2009

51% Rate Alcohol More Dangerous Than Marijuana

Pot or not, that is the question.
Fifty-one percent (51%) of American adults say alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Just 19% disagree and say pot is worse.

White letter R on blue background
August 28, 2009

62% Like Tax Cuts Over More Government Spending

Sixty-two percent (62%) of Americans say it’s always better to cut taxes than increase government spending because taxpayers, not bureaucrats, are the best judges of how to spend their own money.

White letter R on blue background
August 28, 2009

The State Prison Mess By Debra J. Saunders

Earlier this month, three federal judges -- Stephen Reinhardt, Lawrence Karlton and Thelton Henderson -- ordered the release of more than 40,000 of California's 160,000 inmates. No lie: They claimed that releasing one-quarter of state inmates would not have "a meaningful adverse impact on public safety."

White letter R on blue background
August 28, 2009

Law, Not Torture, Protects National Security By Joe Conason

Predictably as always, the Republicans in Congress and in the conservative media are berating Attorney General Eric Holder for deciding to investigate the CIA's use of abusive interrogation methods on terror suspects.

White letter R on blue background
August 28, 2009

39% Like “Cash for Clunkers” Program for Appliances

Thirty-nine percent (39%) of Americans favor a “cash for clunkers”-like government program to give cash rebates to people who buy new, energy-efficient appliances, but 49% think it’s a bad idea, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

White letter R on blue background
August 27, 2009

Rasmussen Reports Daily Prediction Challenge: Congressional Understanding of Legislation

The daily Rasmussen Reports Prediction Challenge for Thursday focuses on Congress' understanding of legislation.