There are likely to be many surprises in a race for the Republican presidential nomination that has something like 20 plausible potential candidates. The first of those surprises came in the last hours before New Year's when Jeb Bush announced he was setting up an exploratory committee to consider running for president.
A group called the Sons of Confederate Veterans has asked Texas to issue a license plate featuring the Confederate battle flag, which many consider an emblem of slavery. Texas said no, and the sons are suing because the state accepts other messages for specialty plates.
The sons have a point.
As the national unemployment rate continues to drop, most Americans remain opposed to long-term government help for those out of work.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 15% of American Adults think the government should hire those who can't find work after an extended period of time. Eleven percent (11%) think the government should extend unemployment benefits indefinitely for the long-term unemployed. But 34% think the government should pay for their retraining only, while 30% say it should do nothing at all. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter and Facebook.
The survey of 800 Adults was conducted on January 4-5, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Republicans and Democrats are tied on the Generic Congressional Ballot for the second time in three weeks.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey for the week ending January 11 finds that 38% of Likely U.S. Voters would vote for the Democratic candidate in their district's congressional race if the election were held today, while 38% would choose the Republican instead.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The national telephone survey of 2,800 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports from December 29-30, 2014 and January 2-4, 2015. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Americans have mixed feelings about how media organizations treat religion in this country, but they strongly defend their right to say what they want to.
Just 44% of American Adults think the media in this country are generally respectful of organized religion and those who practice it. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that nearly as many (36%) say the media is not respectful of religions and people of faith. Twenty percent (20%) are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The national survey of 800 American Adults was conducted on January 8-9, 2015 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Voters tend to like President Obama’s idea of free community college for millions of students - as long as it doesn’t cost them anything.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 47% of Likely U.S. Voters favor a new government program that would make community college tuition-free. Thirty-nine percent (39%) are opposed. Fourteen percent (14%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 800 Likely Voters was conducted on January 9-10, 2015 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Voters continue to believe that securing the border is more important than legalizing the status of undocumented workers already here and think plans to offer legal status to such individuals will just encourage more illegal immigration.
Americans are hesitant to link the terrorist massacre in Paris this past week to the true beliefs of Islam, but many worry a similar attack on those critical of the religion in the United States could happen in the near future.
Sixty-five percent (65%) of American Adults believe it is at least somewhat likely an attack on those critical of Islam will happen in this country in the next year. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 26% think an attack similar to the one against the satirical Parisian publication Charlie Hebdo which mocked radical Islamicists is unlikely to happen here. This includes 29% who say such an attack is Very Likely and just five percent (5%) who say it’s Not At All Likely. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The national survey of 800 American Adults was conducted on January 8-9, 2015 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Obama vs. Congress – Round One. Voters are strongly hoping the country comes out the winner.
Very few voters know how much the United States spends on students each year, but they do know the money being spent isn’t doing much good.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just eight percent (8%) of Likely U.S. Voters know that the United States spends an average of $11,000 per student per year. This is down slightly from September and tied with last January’s low. Forty-four percent (44%) think the country spends less, including 11% who think America spends as little as $3,000 per student. Seven percent (7%) think it spends an average of $13,000 per year. Forty-two percent (42%) are not sure, the highest level of doubt to date. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 800 Likely U.S. Voters was conducted on January 7-8, 2015 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Outgoing Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe criticized Congress this week for its inaction on needed reforms for the financially struggling U.S. Postal Service, but Americans aren’t entirely convinced the agency should be able to make budget changes without Congress.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 42% favor allowing the Postal Service to make budget decisions without congressional approval. Thirty-two percent (32%) oppose letting the agency act without congressional oversight. Twenty-six percent (26%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The national survey of 800 Adults was conducted on January 6-7, 2015 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Taxes, spending, Obamacare and immigration top Congress’ to-do list as far as voters are concerned, but they also fully expect partisan politics to get in the way.
President Obama and Republicans in Congress oppose each other on most major issues facing the nation, and the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 14% of Likely U.S. Voters think this opposition is due mostly to honest differences of opinion. Seventy-seven percent (77%) believe instead that the opposition is mostly due to partisan politics, up from 69% last July when we first asked this question. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 800 Likely Voters was conducted on January 7-8, 2015 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Not long after 9/11, the leading figures in France's Champagne industry decided that they would hold their 2002 annual awards gala in New York rather than Paris. At no small expense, they displayed solidarity with New Yorkers -- and America -- at a time of sorrow and fury, like so many of their compatriots. It was one more instance when the French renewed the bond that has existed since this country's founding.
Lou Cannon has a nice remembrance in RealClearPolitics of Martin Anderson, the economist and adviser to Ronald Reagan who died last week at 78. He touches on all of Anderson's accomplishments, from his successful advocacy in the Nixon White House to abolish the military draft to his unearthing, with his wife Annelise Anderson and Kiron Skinner, the handwritten drafts of Ronald Reagan's radio speeches, which show the impressive breadth of Reagan's reading and depth of his thinking.
Americans continue to believe that government employees have it made: They earn more, do less and have more job security.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 50% of American Adults think the average government worker earns more annually than the average private sector employee, up from 46% in November but consistent with surveying for several years. Only 26% disagree, but just as many (24%) are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter and Facebook.
The survey of 800 American Adults was conducted on January 4-5, 2015 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Telephone calls are fading dramatically as a regular means of communication.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 45% of American Adults say they still primarily communicate with friends and family through phone calls. But that's a 31-point drop from 76% just under five years ago. Half as many (22%) chiefly communicate via text messaging, up from five percent (5%) in the earlier survey.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.)
The survey of 800 American Adults was conducted on January 6-7, 2015 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Americans are still feeling better about the job market.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 24% of American Adults think unemployment will be higher a year from today. This is up three points from 21% in November, but that was the lowest level of pessimism in over four years of regular surveying. Now, 30% believe the unemployment rate will be lower in a year's time, the highest finding since March 2013. Thirty-eight percent (38%) say the unemployment situation will be about the same. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter and Facebook.
The survey of 800 Adults was conducted on January 4-5, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Out of sight, out of mind. With only a handful of reported cases in this country, Americans are less concerned about the threat of Ebola and more confident the U.S. public health system can handle the killer virus.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 49% of American Adults still regard Ebola as a serious public health problem for this country, but that’s down 20 points from a high of 69% in early October. Just as many (49%) now say it’s not a serious health problem. These findings include 14% who consider it Very Serious and 14% who say it’s Not At All Serious.(To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 800 American Adults was conducted on January 2-3, 2015 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Friends of Obamacare, horrified that the Supreme Court has taken a case that could blow up the federal health insurance exchanges, should recalibrate their dread. While the health reforms were safely humming along, there was little political price for demanding their demise. Thanks to the Supreme Court, now there is.
Years of carpet-bombing assaults on Obamacare have left many Americans thinking that they don't like the Affordable Care Act. But close down the federal exchanges covering 6 million people (so far) in 36 states and they may think otherwise. With a vengeance.
More voters than ever think women are good for the U.S. military and believe even more strongly that they should be allowed to fight on the front lines.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 52% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the growing role of women in the services is good for the military, up from 49% in October and the first time support has risen above 50% in regular tracking since December 2013. Just 12% now think women’s growing role is bad for the military, down from 15%. One-in-three (30%) say it has no impact. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 800 Likely Voters was conducted on January 5-6, 2015 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
