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What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Week Ending October 17, 2015

It’s the elephant in the room that was never mentioned Tuesday night at the first debate of the Democratic presidential hopefuls.

More voters than ever are convinced that the incident in Benghazi, Libya in 2012 when the U.S. ambassador and three other U.S. Embassy employees were killed while Hillary Clinton was secretary of State will hurt her bid for the White House.

But Clinton sailed through the CNN-hosted debate unchallenged, unscathed and unrepentant. Her poll numbers didn’t improve after the debate, but she still holds a two-to-one lead over her closest rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Most Democrats predicted beforehand that Clinton would win Tuesday night.

Look for Rasmussen Reports’ latest Hillary Meter on Monday to see if more voters in Clinton’s party think she is likely to capture the nomination.

A Hillary Clinton-Donald Trump matchup still may be in the cards, with our weekly Trump Change survey showing that most Republicans still think “The Donald” is likely to be their nominee.

Before they choose the next president, voters will have to sift through hundreds of conflicting news stories, debate after debate, campaign tours and press conferences. It’s a lot to take in, so how do voters decide?

Meanwhile, President Obama’s daily job approval ratings remain in the negative mid-teens.

That’s no surprise given that just 24% of voters now think the country is heading in the right direction. That’s the lowest finding in over a year.

Clinton is one of those advocating that the U.S. military establish a no-fly zone in Syria to protect civilians in that civil war-torn country, but voters here worry that it may lead to a U.S.-Russian military conflict

Most voters are now concerned that the United States may be returning to a 1950s-like Cold War relationship with the former Soviet Union.

At the same time, more voters than ever think terrorists are beating the United States and its allies in the War on Terror.

As House Republicans struggle to find a replacement for Speaker John Boehner, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, the GOP’s vice presidential nominee in 2012, has emerged as a new favorite, but how does Ryan play with Republicans nationwide?

In other surveys last week:

-- California last week became the fifth state to legalize voluntary euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide, and most Americans still support it as an option for terminally ill patients.

-- California also has passed what may be the toughest Fair Pay Act in the country, determining that men and women who do “substantially similar” work receive equal pay, regardless of whether they hold the same job title or work in the same location. Equal pay and the gender gap have long been hot topics of discussion.

-- Voters continue to believe environmentally-friendly development of shale oil resources can make this country energy independent.

-- Americans are paying more attention to the prestigious Nobel Prize awards this year and are also more likely to say they would like to win one.

-- Fifty percent (50%) of Americans still believe the United States should honor Christopher Columbus with a federal holiday.

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

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