Because courts can sentence murderers to life without parole, why not get rid of the death penalty? It's a frequent question posed by readers and advocates who oppose the death penalty. For years, my answer has been: If death-penalty opponents ever succeed in eliminating capital punishment, their next target for elimination will be life without parole --or as lawyers call it, LWOP.
The number of Americans identifying themselves as Democrats fell by two percentage points in July with Republicans and the number of unaffiliateds each gaining a point.
A Rasmussen Reports survey conducted in mid-June showed that 17% of Americans were Very Likely to take advantage of the “Cash for Clunkers” program. Another 18% said they were Somewhat Like to do so.
President Obama had perhaps his roughest week yet as Congress put his chief legislative initiative on hold and he tried to put an unexpected racial controversy to rest with the so-called “beer summit.”
Something truly astonishing appeared in a Washington Post column on July 25, 2009. It was written by Frank Mankiewicz, former press secretary to Senator Robert F. Kennedy (D-NY) and the man who is perhaps most widely remembered for announcing RFK's death in June 1968. Mankiewicz was also the political director of Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern's losing 1972 campaign. The column contained a two-fold revelation about the just-deceased Walter Cronkite, the longtime CBS News anchorman. Here are the disclosures, in Mankiewicz' own words:
Seventy-six percent (76%) of U.S. voters now think President Obama is at least somewhat liberal. Forty-eight percent (48%) say he is very liberal, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Over the past few months, Rasmussen Reports has conducted many surveys on the topic of health care reform. As July comes to an end and Congress prepares to take a break from Washington, the following reports highlight public attitudes on a variety of health care topics.
Half of Americans (50%) would rather cut back the number of days mail is delivered than have the federal government subsidize the U.S. Postal Service to maintain its current level of service.
The daily Rasmussen Reports Prediction Challenge for Thursday focuses on the school year.
Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Americans are at least somewhat concerned that swine flu will become a more serious problem in the fall with the arrival of the traditional flu season. Twenty-four percent (24%) are very concerned, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
In the mid-nineteenth century, a delegate to a Virginia constitutional convention argued against the office of lieutenant governor, calling it, "the fifth wheel of a wagon, and much more useless." Worse has been said about the vice presidency over the centuries. Franklin Roosevelt's first VP, John Nance Garner, declared his position was not worth a pitcher of warm spit. He actually cited another bodily excretion, but the press of the day cleaned up the language.
When the Senate passed a federal hate-crimes measure by a 63-28 earlier this month, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., proclaimed, "This legislation will help to address the serious and growing problem of hate crimes."
Forty-one percent (41%) of U.S. voters now rate President Obama’s job performance in the area of national security as good or excellent, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Some attacks on health care reform are so ludicrous that you don't think they need answering. A recent example invokes an evil plot to save money by knocking off the elderly. Though nuts, the charges have gotten so much attention that someone has to actually say, "No, they're not killing Grandma."
The daily Rasmussen Reports Prediction Challenge for Thursday focuses on Hillary Clinton.
Nearly one-out-of-three women in America (32%) have read at least one of the fictional Harry Potter books, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Fourteen percent (14%) say they have read every one of the books by author J.K. Rowling.
The Senate next week is expected to confirm the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court, but voters remain closely divided over whether that’s a good idea.
Are Republicans too pessimistic about the economy? I put this question to Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., this week, and it would be hard to describe his response as optimistic. The senator trash-talked Vice President Joe Biden's recent defense of the stimulus in The New York Times, and he warned that any economic rebound will be short-lived because of the runaway spending-and-borrowing plans of the Obama administration.
In an effort to defuse a national controversy, President Obama is hosting a black Harvard professor and the policeman who arrested him at the White House today, but just 30% of U.S. voters give the president good or excellent marks for his handling of the situation over the past week.
In his struggle to change the nation's health care system, Barack Obama again faces certain obstacles that almost stopped his amazing march to the presidency. Aside from the Washington chattering class and the right-wing media, which always oppose progressive reform, Mr. Obama is losing his grip on the middle class and working families in swing states. He is losing Democratic senators and members of Congress in places like Florida and Arkansas. He is losing the propaganda war with his professorial style of explanation.
