What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Week Ending August 29, 2015

The election is still well over a year away, but presidential politics are already in full play.

Rasmussen Reports' latest look at the Democratic presidential race finds that the 2016 nomination remains Hillary Clinton’s to lose. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has surged significantly, but Clinton still leads him by a two-to-one margin.

However, one-in-four Democrats (24%) – and 46% of all voters - think Clinton should suspend her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination until all of the legal questions about her use of a private e-mail server as secretary of State are resolved.

Politically, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is Bernie Sanders with charisma. With Clinton’s growing legal troubles, do Democrats think Warren should reconsider and jump into the presidential race?

Vice President Joe Biden met with Warren last weekend as he mulls over a challenge to Clinton. Democrats weren’t overly enthusiastic about a Biden run earlier this month.

Donald Trump made headlines over the past several days with a political rally in an Alabama football stadium and his televised confrontation with Univision activist/commentator Jorge Ramos. Rasmussen Reports’ latest Trump Change survey shows belief that Trump will be the next Republican presidential nominee inching up among both GOP voters and voters in general.

Trump continues to lead the Republican presidential hopefuls, helped in large part by his tough talk on illegal immigration. Most voters in general - and the vast majority of Republicans - agree with Trump that the United States should build a wall along the Mexican border to help stop illegal immigration and that the United States should deport all illegal immigrants who have been convicted of a felony in this country.

Republican voters consider the Hispanic vote important to their presidential chances next year but aren’t overly concerned that a hard line on illegal immigration will hurt them with those voters.

Trump during the first pre-primary debate reiterated a point he’s made throughout his campaign that “the big problem this country has is being politically correct." Most Americans strongly agree.

Sixty-two percent (62%) of voters think most school textbooks put political correctness ahead of accuracy. 

This helps explain why just 21% think U.S. public schools provide students with a world-class education. This past week, we asked Americans if different school start times and a change in the amount of homework would make a difference. 

We’re still keeping regular tabs on the national health care law, too. Voters are less satisfied with the health care they personally receive and remain pessimistic that Obamacare will make the system any better.

President Obama’s daily job approval ratings aren’t getting any better either. 

Voters were right earlier this month when they predicted China’s economic crisis will likely cause major economic problems in the United States. It’s been a bumpy week for the stock market.

Most voters have long considered China a major threat to the United States - in more ways than one.

In other surveys last week:

-- Just 27% of voters think the country is headed in the right direction.

-- Gas prices have hit recent lows in many parts of the country, but do most Americans expect that to last?

-- Two women made history last week by being the first of their gender to graduate from the U.S. Army Ranger School, but are voters ready for women in elite combat-fighting units?

-- A judge this week sentenced Aurora, Colorado theater shooter James Holmes to life in prison. Holmes is fortunate Americans in general weren’t his judge and jury.

-- It’s been 10 years since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, and the president and other politicians commemorated the event with visits to the Crescent City.  As recently as last year, 50% of Louisiana voters told Rasmussen Reports that their state has not yet fully recovered from the Category 3 hurricane. 

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Remember, if it's in the news, it's in our polls.