There is an uncanny symmetry in the two presidential candidates' choice of vice presidential running mates. There are a few superficial differences -- Republican J.D. Vance is 40, Democrat Tim Walz 60. Vance is bearded, Walz balding.
Former President Donald Trump has maintained his lead over Vice President Kamala Harris, and support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent campaign continues to decline.
Despite the recent stock market dip, optimism about the economy has increased in the past year.
— Although circumstances constricted Vice President Harris’s Veepstakes, she appears to have conducted a careful and thoughtful process that produced a good choice.
— Harris’s process was unique in its focus on Democratic governors and the selection of Gov. Tim Walz will be the first sitting governor as the Democratic vice presidential candidate in 100 years.
— Although Harris vetted candidates from competitive states, like other recent presidential candidates she chose a running mate who was not from a true swing state, demonstrating again that vice presidential candidates are chosen for reasons other than their ability to carry a competitive state.
— Harris’s focus on candidates who had demonstrated political and governmental success in competitive and even red states suggests an emphasis on candidates who can appeal to centrist voters including those beyond the Democratic base.
— The rollout tour will be important in defining Walz in the public’s eye, elevating Harris from the role of vice president to presidential candidate, and demonstrating the themes of and dynamic between the Democratic ticket.
A majority of Americans still support requiring school children to recite the Pledge of Allegiance daily.
President Joe Biden talked incessantly about his "from the middle class out" economic strategy. Given his record, it would have been more accurate to call it the "middle class down and out" plan. Inflation has eroded away any income gains under Biden's presidency.
Today people are taught, when it comes to slavery, America was the worst.
Although public opinion of teachers’ unions have improved in the past four years, half of Americans still think the unions care less about education than about protecting their members’ jobs.
Support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential campaign has declined, and many voters think Kennedy should quit the race.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris may be rivals for the White House, but they're not exactly competing in the same race.
Thirty-three percent (33%) of Likely U.S. Voters think the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey for the week ending August 1, 2024.
Less than a quarter of voters think Vice President Kamala Harris would do a better job on the economy than President Joe Biden, who isn’t considered very successful on the issue.
In surveys last week, this is what America told Rasmussen Reports...
National unemployment was 8.4% in this month’s Rasmussen Reports Real Unemployment update, up from 7.9% last month and starkly different from the 4.3% officially reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today.
When tracking President Biden’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...
A majority of voters believe the man who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump last month acted alone, but many suspect a conspiracy.
Monday night's "White Dudes for Harris" Zoom call, with some 90,000 registered to participate, was surely a landmark in political history. Nearly 200 years ago, when the Democratic Party was being formed to elect and reelect Andrew Jackson, the entire American electorate, with exceptions, such as Black New Englanders, property-owning Black New Yorkers, and New Jersey widows, was made up of "white dudes."
Former President Donald Trump still leads Vice President Kamala Harris, but the margin has narrowed, especially when third-party candidates are factored into this year’s election.
— Because of the unprecedented nature of the 2024 campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris, who stepped up to lead the Democratic ticket less than two weeks ago, has had an unusually abbreviated window in which to vet her own vice presidential prospects.
— The leading contenders to join Harris on the ticket are Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), although we are watching several other names.
— If Harris picks a running mate from a true swing state (like Arizona or Pennsylvania), it would be unusual, at least considering recent history, as most recent picks have not come from states at the center of the electoral map.
— Research is mixed on the home state bonus afforded by running mates; if any effect does exist, it is likely small—although just a small effect could be decisive in a key state.
Even while some politicians demand the elimination of gasoline-powered vehicles, most Americans still don’t consider electric replacements practical.
