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December 22, 2008

40% Say Nation’s Best Days Still Ahead, Lowest Since July

Just 40% of voters now say America’s best days are in the future, marking the lowest level of optimism since early July.

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December 21, 2008

64% Celebrate Christmas as a Religious Holiday

While the message sometimes gets lost in all the commercialization, 64% of Americans say they will celebrate Christmas this Thursday as a religious holiday honoring the birth of Jesus Christ.

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December 20, 2008

What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - December 19, 2008

Barack Obama is just about the only bright spot on the horizon for most Americans as Christmas comes and the troubled year of 2008 nears a close.

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December 20, 2008

66% Say Christmas Is One of the Most Important Holidays

Two-thirds (66%) of American adults say Christmas is one of the nation’s most important holidays in a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

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December 20, 2008

47% Worry About ‘Dynasty’ Politics

Forty-seven percent (47%) of U.S. voters are worried that America is developing an unofficial group of “royal families” with too much influence over government and politics.

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December 20, 2008

Expectations of Hope and Change By Michael Barone

A new generation is coming to the White House. Barack Obama, born in 1961, is technically a baby boomer. But his early years were straight out of Generation X -- abandoned by his father and, for a time, his mother; experimentation with drugs; a sense of drifting.

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December 19, 2008

Optimism for Nation’s Future Continues to Slip Among Blacks, Democrats

After reaching record highs in November, the percentages of Democrats and African-American voters who say the country is moving in the right direction continue to slip.

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December 19, 2008

Approval of Congress Drops to Single Digits Again

Approval of Congress' job performance is down to single digits again for the first time since early September.

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December 19, 2008

Most Voters Like Caroline, But Only 37% Say She Is Fit for Senate

Just 37% of U.S. voters believe Caroline Kennedy is qualified to be in the U.S. Senate, and only 16% say she would be considered as Hillary Clinton’s replacement if her last name wasn’t Kennedy.

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December 19, 2008

The Other Marriage Penalty By Susan Estrich

Energy czar-designate Carol Browner's husband does it. So does Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Tom Daschle's wife. Congressman John Dingell's wife has been doing it for years.

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December 18, 2008

22% Say Smoking Should Be Against The Law

Over one-out-of-five U.S. voters (22%) say the federal government should outlaw tobacco smoking, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

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December 18, 2008

Only 46% Share Bush's Confidence in America's Safety

President Bush in a speech on Wednesday trumpeted his national security record in the White House, but just 46% of U.S. voters say the nation is safer today than it was before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

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December 18, 2008

More Voters Unsure Which Party to Trust on Ethics

With the Blagojevich scandal unfolding in Illinois and tainting at least one senior Obama administration official, the number of voters unsure which political party they can trust to deal with government ethics and corruption has climbed to its highest level since June.

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December 18, 2008

Shock-and-Awe Easing By Lawrence Kudlow

In a monetary version of shock-and-awe, the Federal Reserve unleashed a massive easing move with its Federal Open Market Committee policy announcement Tuesday -- one that represents a sea change in central-bank operations.

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December 18, 2008

Should She Be Senator Kennedy? By Joe Conason

Caroline Kennedy made her political debut in Manhattan almost exactly 10 years ago, when she showed up as the surprise speaker at a "teach-in" against the impeachment of Bill Clinton at New York University Law School.

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December 18, 2008

No Con Hurts Like an Affinity Con By Froma Harrop

Losing money doesn't feel very good. Losing it as victim of a con feels even worse. And being conned by a trusted friend multiplies the hurt.

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December 17, 2008

State Football Roundup: Floridians More Confident About Bucs Playoff Bid than Dolphins

As the National Football League playoff picture begins to take shape, the battles for the two wild card positions in each conference are among the most intriguing stories as the season winds down. Recent Rasmussen Reports surveys in Florida, Georgia and Massachusetts examined the confidence among adults in those states in their team’s ability to make the post season tournament.

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December 17, 2008

Democrats Top GOP by Five in Congressional Ballot

Democrats now lead by five percentage points in the latest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 42% of voters would vote for their district’s Democratic candidate while 37% would choose the Republican candidate.

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December 17, 2008

71% Say Tobacco Companies Not Liable for Smoker Health Problems

The Supreme Court on Monday opened up another avenue for smokers to sue tobacco companies, but 71% of U.S. voters say the companies should not be held liable for health problems that current smokers develop.

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December 17, 2008

47% Willing To Pay More for ‘Green’ Goods and Services

Forty-seven percent (47%) of U.S. voters say they are willing to pay more for goods and services if it means a cleaner environment, even as President-elect Obama promises to move ahead aggressively on both the economic and ecological fronts.