The 40th Republican National Convention is now history, and political strategists and pundits are poring over the poll numbers to see whether Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are getting a post-convention bounce in what have been very closely divided polls.
Clint Eastwood delivered one of the most unusual convention speeches in recent memory last week, and America’s Political Class didn’t know what to make of it. Most Democratic analysts panned the performance, while Republican officials offered a mixed assessment ranging from great to cringeworthy. But the 82-year old movie icon is still viewed in positive terms by the nation’s voters.
While Republican officials were uncertain about Eastwood, 78% of GOP voters have a favorable opinion of him. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that Democrats are evenly divided: 42% favorable and 44% unfavorable. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 58% view Eastwood favorably, and only 21% have a negative view. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on August 30-31, 2012 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.
Labor Day was originally meant as a day to celebrate the nation's work force, but more than half of Americans continue to see it more as an unofficial end to summer.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of American Adults shows that 35% celebrate Labor Day as a holiday honoring the contribution of workers in society. Fifty-two percent (52%) celebrate the federal holiday as the unofficial end of summer. Thirteen percent (13%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on August 29-30, 2012 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.
When tracking President Obama’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. To look at the longer-term trends, Rasmussen Reports compiles the numbers on a full-month basis, and the results can be seen in the graphics below.
For the month of August, the president's Total Job Approval Rating moved up a point to 48% from 47% in July. Since the beginning of 2012, that finding has remained in the narrow range of 47% to 49%. This time last year, the president had an approval rating of 44%. However, his ratings have been remarkably steady and generally stayed around the 47% mark since late 2009.
Slightly more Americans took a summer vacation this year, and fewer cited economic conditions as a reason to spend less on that vacation.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey find that 39% of American Adults took a summer vacation this year. That's up slightly from 33% last year and is more in line with the number who vacationed in 2010 and 2009. Sixty percent (60%) did not go on summer vacation this year. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on August 29-30, 2012 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.
After falling for two straight months, the number of Americans who consider themselves Republicans jumped nearly three points in August.
During August, 37.6% of Americans considered themselves Republicans. That’s up from 34.9% in July and 35.4% in June. It’s also the largest number of Republicans ever recorded by Rasmussen Report since monthly tracking began in November 2002. The previous peak for the GOP was 37.3% in September 2004. See History of Party Trends.
Just as Labor Day marks the end of summer for most Americans, it also signals the beginning of the presidential campaign season for many. Now they’ll focus on the race with Election Day looming just two months away.
So where do President Obama and Mitt Romney stand at this point? Heading into the Republican National Convention, the candidates have been even for months in the daily Presidential Tracking Poll. At week’s end, Romney was starting to enjoy a modest bounce from his convention. President Obama expects to do the same next week.
Voters remain more conservative on fiscal issues than on social matters. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 43% consider themselves conservative when it comes to fiscal issues such as taxes, government spending and business regulation. That's consistent with regular tracking since May of last year. Thirty-seven percent (37%) say they are fiscal moderates. Eighteen percent (18%) define themselves as liberal on fiscal matters, up four points from a month ago and the highest number of self-described fiscal liberals to date. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on August 24-25, 2012 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.
The economy is still the number one issue on voters’ minds this election season, and a plurality continues to give President Obama poor marks in this area.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 35% of Likely Voters believe the president is doing a good or excellent job handling economic issues. Forty-four percent (44%) give Obama a poor rating in this area. (To see survey question wording, click here.
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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on August 28-29, 2012 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.
Most voters still think the next president is likely to be a Republican, but belief that it’s very likely has changed little for months.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 60% of Likely U.S. Voters believe that the next president will be a Republican. Twenty-five percent (25%) considerate it unlikely that President Obama will be succeeded by a Republican. Sixteen percent (16%) aren’t sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on August 29-30, 2012 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.
An overwhelming number of Americans nationwide have a favorable opinion of astronaut Neil Armstrong who passed away last weekend. Despite his famously guarded demeanor, most Americans correctly identify him as the first person to walk on the moon. Only a small percentage of Americans think the whole thing was staged.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of American Adults shows that 88% view Armstrong favorably, including 68% with a Very Favorable opinion of him. Just two percent (2%) regard him unfavorably. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on August 27-28, 2012 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
On the same day that Mitt Romney cracked his birther "joke," new evidence indicated that he and his partners at Bain Capital have used questionable methods to avoid federal taxes -- including a scheme that transforms corporate stock into untaxed offshore "derivatives" and a practice that converts management fees into capital gains, which are taxed at a far lower rate.
Political junkies get excited about the Republican and Democratic national conventions, but for many Americans they provide a stark reminder of how out of touch our political system has become. The strange rituals and bad jokes seem oddly out of place in the 21st century, almost as strange as seeing an engineer use a slide rule rather than an iPad to perform some complex calculation.
More voters than ever consider Mitt Romney a conservative, but President Obama is still viewed as further to the political left than Romney is to the right. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 71% of Likely U.S. Voters describe Obama as a liberal, up just slightly from earlier this year but the highest finding since December 2010. Just as many (72%) now view Romney as conservative. That's up from 56% at the beginning of the year and the highest finding to date.
But 44% of voters think the president is Very Liberal versus 30% who describe his Republican challenger as Very Conservative. The number who think Obama is Very Liberal is consistent with regular tracking for much of his presidency. The percentage who view Romney as Very Conservative is up from 14% in early January. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on August 24-25, 2012 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.
Following the passing of Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon, Americans don’t show strong support for putting astronauts back on the moon anytime soon.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of American Adults shows that 41% believe the United States should resume manned space missions to the moon during the next decade. Nearly as many (37%) disagree and don’t think the country should resume those missions. Twenty-two percent (22%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on August 27-28, 2012 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.
Voters remain evenly divided on the importance of the candidate’s wives in determining how they will vote for president in November, but favorables for Michelle Obama and Ann Romney are up as the campaign begins in earnest.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 61% of Likely U.S. Voters now have a favorable opinion of Mrs. Obama, with 42% who view her Very Favorably. Only 33% regard the first lady unfavorably, including 17% with a Very Unfavorable opinion of her. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on August 28-29, 2012 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.
No balanced talk of immigration reform is expected before the November election. But that need not stop the airing of proposals, some of them semi-formed, some half-baked.
From the left, we have the TRUST Act, a bill passed by the California Legislature and now awaiting Gov. Jerry Brown's uncertain signature. It would require local law enforcement to defy some federal requests to hold arrested illegal immigrants pending checks for criminal records. That would force police to break either state law or federal law. The TRUST Act's sponsors should know that immigration is a federal responsibility in California as well as in Arizona.
TAMPA, Fla. -- The Republicans who are assembled here have been told time and time again that Barack Obama's great advantage over Mitt Romney is likability.
Voters still trust Mitt Romney more than President Obama when it comes to handling the economy - but just barely. They have more confidence in the president when it comes to national security, and as for taxes, health care and energy policy, the presidential hopefuls are virtually tied, indicative of how close the race remains.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 48% of Likely U.S. Voters trust Romney more on the economy, while 44% have more confidence in the president. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on August 26-27, 2012 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.
Twenty eight percent (28%) of Likely U.S. Voters now say the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey taken the week ending Sunday, August 26.
That's down one point from the week before.
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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports August 20-26, 2012. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Fieldwork for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
