What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Week Ending September 19, 2015

Is there movement at last in the race for the Republican presidential nomination?

Republicans have lowered Donald Trump’s chances for the nomination - for the second week in a row - in Rasmussen Reports’ latest Trump Change survey. 

Following Wednesday night’s GOP debate, Jeb Bush is treading water, but Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina appear to have dramatically improved their chances for the nomination in 2016. Carson is now in a virtual tie with Trump.

There were two major storylines going into this week’s debate at the Reagan Presidential Library in California: Bush’s showdown with Trump in hopes of reclaiming the lead and Fiorina’s ascension to the A-debate stage. Bush seems to have come up short, while Fiorina clearly benefited.

But was the latest meeting of all the candidates a debate or an endurance test? 

Eighty-nine percent (89%) of Likely Republican Voters told us earlier this week that they were likely to watch or follow news reports about the debate. 

Trump has proposed tax hikes on the country’s wealthiest households in response to what he feels are vastly overpaid CEOs and Wall Street hedge fund managers. Most Americans agree that these individuals get paid too much.

Democrats won’t hold their first official debate until next month, but right now 59% of all voters – and 37% of Democrats – think it’s likely Hillary Clinton broke the law by sending and receiving e-mails containing classified information through a private e-mail server while serving as secretary of State.

As far as voters are concerned, the law is the law, even if you’re the president.

Democrats nervous about the problems surrounding Clinton have been talking up Joe Biden’s candidacy. Are Democrats ready for the vice president to jump into the race for their party’s presidential nomination?

Support for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders among Democrats has surged over the summer, but do voters in his party think Sanders is any more likely to win the nomination next year?

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of all voters think Clinton and Obama hold similar views on most major policy issues. The president’s daily job approval ratings worsened a bit this week. 

Since labor unions have overwhelmingly supported Democratic candidates over Republicans for decades, it's not surprising that 71% of GOP voters think unions have too much political influence, but only 28% of Democrats agree.

The Federal Reserve Board decided on Thursday not to raise interest rates, but most Americans expect to pay higher interest rates a year from now. 

In other surveys last week:

-- Twenty-nine percent (29%) of voters believe the United States is headed in the right direction.

-- Despite the health risks of tobacco smoking, Americans still don’t want to ban it altogether.

-- Americans believe 18 is old enough to elect a president and fight for your country but not to buy tobacco and alcohol.

-- Pope Francis is coming to America next week.

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