While confusion continues to reign in Georgia as to Russia’s intentions there and NATO prepares to get into the act, 50% of Americans believe the United Nations should send peacekeepers to the region, but only 22% say U.S. troops should be involved.
Senator Tom Coburn is unknown to most Americans, but the strange workings of the Senate Select Committee on Ethics could end up making the Oklahoma Republican far more popular than he is today.
There were more troubling numbers for the news media this week, as voters nationwide continue to tell us that trust is an issue as far as journalists are concerned.
Last week, the two erstwhile communist superpowers were in the spotlight. Starting on Aug. 8, China staged the Olympics -- an event on the schedule for years. Also on Aug. 8, Russia invaded the independent republic of Georgia -- which apparently caught our government flatfooted.
Hillary and Bill have hijacked the Denver convention, making it into a carbon copy of what it would have looked like had she won until the last possible moment. By the time Obama gets up to speak and put his stamp on the convention, Hillary will have had one prime time night all to herself. Bill will have pre-empted a second night. Hillary will have had all the nominating and seconding speeches she wants. And the roll call of the states would record, in graphic detail, how the voters of state after state rejected Obama’s candidacy in the primaries.
One third of voters nationwide (33%) agree with Barack Obama that allowing Senator Hillary Clinton’s name to also be placed in nomination at the Democratic National Convention will “help us celebrate this defining moment in our history and bring the party together in a strong united fashion."
The discovery that John McCain's remarks on Georgia were derived from Wikipedia, to put it politely, is disturbing and even depressing -- but not surprising.
Nearly half of Americans (47%) believe the government should require all radio and television stations to offer equal amounts of conservative and liberal political commentary, but they draw the line at imposing that same requirement on the Internet. Thirty-nine percent (39%) say leave radio and TV alone, too.
On March 19, 2007, Mark Penn wrote a memo to Hillary Clinton saying: "Every speech should contain a line [saying that] you were born in the middle of America to a middle class family in the middle of the last century."
From the time Barack Obama declared his candidacy for president, his campaign realized it would benefit from what came to be called the enthusiasm gap. "In most campaigns, it's a challenge to drag people out," Western States Field Director Buffy Wicks told a group of volunteer organizers gathered in San Francisco last summer.
It's hard to recall a political burial as fast and cold as that of John Edwards. After all, the former North Carolina senator had been a serious contender for president until a few months ago and possibly for VP until last week. Had his cheesy affair not surfaced, he would have commanded a choice speaking slot at the Democrats' convention.
When political reporters run low on topics to write about, they often turn their attention to third parties--the "lovable losers" of American politics. They never win at the presidential level but often are called upon to add color to campaigns that are sometimes badly in need of it.
This month, voters trust Democrats more than Republicans on nine out of ten issues, including National Security. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone surveys also found that the economy is still the top issue among voters in this year’s election.
Six out of 10 Americans (61%) say Congress should return to Washington immediately to vote on lifting the ban on offshore oil drilling, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. But voters overwhelmingly expect Congress to adjourn this year without taking action.
You can blame John Edwards for a lot of things, but the last thing anyone should be blaming him for is the nomination of Barack Obama.
John McCain has zero charisma. Next to the excitement of Obama, he looks like an old man defending the status quo. Ironically, his career has embodied exactly the opposite. He is what Obama symbolizes – a person who rises above party, confronts the special interests, and wants to change the way Washington works.
The majority of voters nationwide (62%) believe individuals should pay Social Security taxes on most or all of their incomes. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 25% of voters disagree.
The Republicans have tightened the gap somewhat in the Generic Congressional Ballot. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that, if given the choice, 45% of voters would choose their district’s Democratic candidate, while 37% would choose the Republican candidate.
Most Americans have been following news stories on the presidential campaign more closely than the Olympic Games, but, given the choice, they would rather watch the games.
The majority of Americans (59%) regard Russia’s ongoing invasion of neighboring Georgia as a threat to U.S. national security, but less than a third (31%) believe the United States should take any diplomatic action against Russia.
