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December 7, 2009

41% Favor Health Care Plan, 51% Oppose

The Senate worked through the weekend on its version of the national health care bill, with President Obama stopping by for a rare Sunday visit, but for the second week in a row, only 41% of U.S. voters favor the health care plan proposed by the president and congressional Democrats.

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December 7, 2009

Tea Party Tops GOP on Three-Way Generic Ballot

Running under the Tea Party brand may be better in congressional races than being a Republican.

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December 6, 2009

Declaring War on Another "War President" By Debra J. Saunders

As soon as President Obama had finished his West Point speech in which he pledged to send 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, conservative pundits started poking at the president's demeanor and message. Big mistake. If Obama's delivery seemed, well, unenthusiastic, so be it. What is important is that Obama delivered a policy that will keep Afghanistan from devolving into a terror pit. He offered the best plan that conservatives possibly could expect.

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December 6, 2009

What's In A Name? Favorables for Krugman, Fund, Alice Cooper and Springsteen

Most voters (55%) don’t know enough about Paul Krugman to venture even a soft opinion about him. Those with an opinion are fairly evenly divided—22% favorable and 22% unfavorable. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just one-in-10 voters has a strong opinion about Krugman, with four percent (4%) voicing a Very Favorable opinion and six percent (6%) a Very Unfavorable view.

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December 5, 2009

42% Want Federal Government to Address Health Care Reform, 23% Prefer Leaving It to States

While most Americans oppose the health care legislation working its way through Congress, most also believe the reform is something the federal government should be dealing with.

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December 5, 2009

What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Ending December 4, 2009

President Obama seems to be shifting from one hot potato to the next these days.

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December 5, 2009

2010 South Carolina Governor: Democrat Rex Runs Close Against Top GOP Hopefuls

With the Mark Sanford scandal still swirling in South Carolina, next year’s race for governor is shaping up to be quite competitive if State Education Superintendent Jim Rex is the Democratic candidate.

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December 5, 2009

What I Don't Know About Afghanistan By Susan Estrich

People keep asking me whether I agree with the president's troop surge in Afghanistan. I am a lawyer. I know what to do with a hard question: Answer another one that is so similar that even the person asking may not notice you've changed it. So I answer that I absolutely support the president on this one, that I absolutely approve of the process and the decision and the way he's handling his responsibility as commander in chief.

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December 4, 2009

Looking Ahead: Senate Races 2012-2014 By Larry J. Sabato

As the most recent Crystal Ball ratings showed, Democrats are benefiting from the equal split of Senate seats up in 2010. Even though Democrats have a large majority of senators, it just so happens that both Democrats and Republicans are defending 19 seats each in the upcoming midterm election, which makes it exceedingly difficult for the GOP to gain enough seats to capture the Senate.

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December 4, 2009

Voters Divided on Afghanistan Goals, Believe Obama Favors Immediate End To War

Voters are almost evenly divided over what is the more important goal in the ongoing war in Afghanistan, but most believe President Obama is looking to end the war as quickly as possible.

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December 4, 2009

79% Now Favor Auditing the Fed

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday voiced his opposition to legislation calling for regular audits of the Fed’s monetary policies, but 79% of Americans think auditing the Fed is a good idea.

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December 4, 2009

37% Support President’s Plan for Afghanistan, 38% Oppose

The good news for President Obama is that 53% of voters nationwide support his plan to send another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. Nearly as many (47%) support his plan to begin withdrawing troops from that war-torn country in 18 months.

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December 4, 2009

The Crushing Legacy of Bush and Cheney By Joe Conason

From now on, the headlines about Afghanistan will be slugged "Obama's War," and perhaps that is fair enough given the president's many endorsements of what he has called a war of necessity. It would be much less fair, however, to ignore the events that led us to this moment, when whatever choice he makes will offer no great guarantee of progress and no small prospect of trouble.

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December 4, 2009

49% in South Carolina Oppose Impeachment of Sanford

Nearly half (49%) of South Carolina voters say embattled Republican Governor Mark Sanford should not be impeached, according to a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state.

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December 4, 2009

Big Government Can't Put Young Americans to Work By Michael Barone

"What have you done for me lately?" It's a question that voters implicitly ask politicians, especially ones they have supported and who are seeking their votes again. And it's a question that young voters in particular may be asking Barack Obama, whom they supported by a 66 percent to 32 percent margin 13 months ago.

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December 3, 2009

No Solid Gold Performance from Bernanke By Lawrence Kudlow

Fed head Ben Bernanke got hammered today during his reconfirmation hearing in front of the Senate Banking Committee. Jim Bunning was Bernanke’s toughest critic, followed by Richard Shelby, Jim DeMint, and yes, Chris Dodd, the beleaguered committee chair who in all likelihood will be defeated in Connecticut next year.

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December 3, 2009

70% in Huckabee’s State Oppose Letting Elected Officials Reduce Felons’ Sentences

Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is being sharply criticized for his decision as governor of Arkansas to commute the 108-year prison sentence of a man who just last week murdered four police officers.

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December 3, 2009

80% Say Media Is Focusing Too Much On Tiger Woods

Tiger, Tiger everywhere.

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December 3, 2009

Americans Skeptical of Science Behind Global Warming

Most Americans (52%) believe that there continues to be significant disagreement within the scientific community over global warming.

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December 3, 2009

Huckabee Handed Out Pardons Like Candy By Debra J. Saunders

There is no need to tiptoe gingerly around this topic: Maurice Clemmons, who was shot and killed as authorities tried to apprehend him for the shooting deaths of four Washington police officers -- is former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's Willie Horton.