Americans Draw the Line at Police Use of Military-Grade Weapons
President Obama announced today a ban on the federal provision of some military-grade equipment to local police departments, a practice nearly half of Americans oppose.
Public Content
Most Recent Releases
May 18, 2015
May 18, 2015
Most Think Iraq War A Major Voting Issue
Jeb Bush, a likely Republican presidential contender, stumbled last week when asked if he would have invaded Iraq in 2003 like his brother, President George W. Bush, did. Voters are closely divided over whether the president made the right decision 12 years ago, and most still consider the Iraq war an important voting issue.
May 18, 2015
More Voters See Need for U.S. To Be World's Top Cop
In his first major foreign policy speech since announcing his run for president, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida echoed the views of some of his Republican competitors that America must renew its military and moral leadership but stopped short of saying it should be the world’s policeman. More voters than ever think the U.S. military is overstretched these days, but slightly more also think America has a responsibility to maintain order globally.
May 16, 2015
What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Week Ending May 16, 2015
Proposals on how to deal with the nation’s illegal immigration problem come in a variety of forms.
May 15, 2015
Generic Congressional Ballot: Republicans 38%, Democrats 38%
Republicans and Democrats remain tied on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot.
May 15, 2015
Voters Say Yes to Deepwater Drilling, Maybe in the Gulf
Five years ago, the nation was focused on the disastrous BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and now the federal government has given the okay for deepwater drilling to resume nearby. Voters are closely divided on the wisdom of this decision, but most still favor deepwater drilling in general.
May 15, 2015
British Pollsters Failed in the Increasingly Difficult Struggle to Get it Right by Michael Barone
The world may have a polling problem. That's the headline on a blogpost by Nate Silver, the wunderkind founder of FiveThirthyEight. It was posted on 9:54 ET the night of May 7, as the counting in the British election was continuing in the small hours of May 8 UK Time.
May 15, 2015
Is A College Degree Really Worth What You Pay?
More Americans think it's a good idea for everyone to get additional schooling after high school, even though they're less convinced than they were several years ago that a college degree is worth what you pay for it.
May 14, 2015
39% Say Patriots Should Forfeit Super Bowl Win Over 'Deflategate'
A sizable number of Americans don't feel the penalties lodged against Quarterback Tom Brady and the New England Patriots for their use of deflated footballs in a championship game earlier this year are harsh enough and think the team should be stripped of its latest Super Bowl championship.
May 14, 2015
What If Michelle Obama Challenged Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Nomination?
Michelle Obama for president? What if she ran against the seemingly impregnable Hillary Clinton?
May 14, 2015
The Left Is So Wrong on Trade By Froma Harrop
The left's success in denying President Obama fast-track authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership is ugly to behold. The case put forth by a showboating Sen. Elizabeth Warren -- that Obama cannot be trusted to make a deal in the interests of American workers -- is almost worse than wrong. It is irrelevant.
The Senate Democrats who turned on Obama are playing a 78 rpm record in the age of digital downloads.
May 14, 2015
Most Voters Still Approve of Military Service for Illegal Immigrants
Congress is debating whether to encourage illegal immigrants to join the military as a path to citizenship, and most voters continue to think that's a good idea.
May 14, 2015
Democrats 2016: Sanders Now Clinton's Chief Rival By Geoffrey Skelley
“Inevitable.” That’s the word often used to describe Hillary Clinton and the 2016 Democratic nomination. Can anyone beat her? Anything’s possible, but the odds appear quite low. Still, her most threatening intraparty opposition could prove to be a man who isn’t even technically a Democrat (yet, anyway): independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a self-identified “democratic socialist.” We see him as a potential thorn in Clinton’s side, and to reflect that, we are moving Sanders to the top of the non-Clinton tier in our presidential rankings for Democrats.
May 13, 2015
U.S. Voters Still Strongly Dislike Putin
Secretary of State John Kerry visited Russia this week for the first time since the Ukraine crisis began last year to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other top officials. Negative opinions of Putin remain high among U.S. voters.
May 13, 2015
Support Is Growing for Government-Paid College
Several prominent Democrats are championing the idea of debt-free college, and a lot of Americans agree the government should pay for those who can’t afford to go.
May 13, 2015
Disobey! By John Stossel
Charles Murray, already controversial for writing books on how welfare hurts the poor, on ethnic differences in IQ and on (less controversial, but my favorite) happiness and good government, has written a new book that argues that it's time for civil disobedience. Government has become so oppressive, constantly restricting us with new regulations, that our only hope is for some of us to refuse to cooperate.
May 13, 2015
Americans Put Even More Emphasis on Two-Parent Homes
Adults feel more strongly in the importance of a child growing up in a two-parent home, but they also think one of their parents was more influential than the other in their own upbringings.
May 12, 2015
Voters Worry Military Exercises May Lead to Federal Control Of States
Eight weeks of U.S. military exercises this summer in several southwestern states - dubbed Jade Helm 15 - have some wondering if the government is preparing for martial law. Most voters don’t oppose such exercises, but a surprising number worry about what the federal government is up to.
May 12, 2015
Online Dignity: Give It Up by Froma Harrop
Three female professors at Eastern Michigan University were shocked to learn that some young scholars in their lecture hall had been on their cellphones attacking them with lewd public posts, complete with imagery. It was all done anonymously, courtesy of an unusually obnoxious social media app called Yik Yak.
May 12, 2015
Will A Republican Be the Next President?
There’s still a ways to go before Election Day 2016, but most voters – especially Republicans – think a GOP victory is likely.
