"I would say he was pretty underwhelming," said Lawyer Gus several days after he and some 200 other big-money supporters of Hillary Clinton's failed presidential campaign met with the victor, Barack Obama, in Washington on June 26. Lawyer Gus is a longtime Democratic activist, who will support and contribute to Obama as the party's nominee, but will not be enthusiastic about it.
As the Senate inches toward passage of a $300 billion bill to help homeowners facing foreclosure, a new Rasmussen Reports national survey shows that only 21% of voters think the federal government should provide such assistance.
The list of issues on which Barack Obama has flipped now that the primaries are over is long and growing rapidly.
Barack Obama said yesterday that “instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English,” Americans “need to make sure your child can speak Spanish.” A national telephone survey conducted last month by Rasmussen Reports found that U.S. voters overwhelmingly disagree with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
Going strictly by the numbers, the biggest perceived difference between Barack Obama and John McCain can be found on the issue of Iraq.
Democrats continue to lead Republicans by double-digits in the Rasmussen Reports generic congressional ballot. When given the choice, 47% of voters nationwide would vote for their district’s Democratic candidate, while 34% would choose their Republican candidate.
Seven out of 10 Americans (70%) think a balanced budget is good for the economy, but nearly as many (64%) believe it unlikely that John McCain can achieve such a budget by 2013 as he has promised.
Voters continue to believe that tax cuts are good for the economy and tax hikes are bad, but for many that’s not the most important aspect of tax policy.
The percentage of voters who give Congress good or excellent ratings has fallen to single digits for the first time in Rasmussen Reports tracking history. This month, just 9% say Congress is doing a good or excellent job. Most voters (52%) say Congress is doing a poor job, which ties the record high in that dubious category.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has done a far more effective job than Republican John McCain in recent weeks moving himself to the middle in the minds of voters, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone surveys.
Immigration is said to be a divisive issue, but it really isn't. Large majorities of Americans favor legal immigration, and large majorities oppose illegal immigration.
Over half of Americans (56%) express a favorable view of the National Rifle Association, although only 17% of voters say they are more likely to vote for John McCain if he is endorsed by the pro-gun lobbying group.
More than two out of three Americans (68%) rate health care in this country as fair or poor, but a near identical number (69%) give good or excellent marks to their health insurance coverage and are very reluctant to change it.
Voters are evenly divided on whether women or African-Americans are more discriminated against today. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 32% believe African-Americans face more discrimination and 31% believe women do. Thirty-eight percent (38%) are not sure.
A proposal to conserve energy by reducing the nationwide speed limit to 55 miles-per-hour is strongly opposed by the nation’s voters. Voters continue to prefer solutions that lead to finding more energy rather than relying upon conservation efforts. Majorities support both drilling for oil in both offshore wells and in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge.
When House Republican leaders left Washington for their Fourth of July break, they felt good about outwitting the Democratic majority. The feeling was not reciprocated 3,000 miles away, where conservative California Republican activists were drafting an ultimatum.
As we have noted many times, there is a disagreement within the polling industry as to whether or not polling firms should “weight” or adjust their sample to reflect a specific mix of Democrats, Republicans, and unaffiliated voters
Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, whose stock as Sen. Barack Obama's possible vice presidential running mate had been rising, may have ruined his chances with his belittling attack on Sen. John McCain's war record.
"They're going to try to make you afraid of me," Barack Obama told the audience at a Jacksonville fundraiser last month. "He's young and inexperienced and he's got a funny name. And did I mention he's black?" Obama was doing here by inference what many of his supporters do more explicitly.
Forty-two percent (42%) of American voters think the United States and its allies are winning the war on terror.
