If it's in the News, it's in our Polls. Public opinion polling since 2003.

Political Commentary

Most Recent Releases

White letter R on blue background
October 7, 2009

Cherry-picking Intelligence ... Again By Tony Blankley

Al-Qaida is becoming the weapons of mass destruction of the Obama administration's war in Afghanistan. Or, to be more precise, it is a reverse WMD. For the George W. Bush administration, the likely presence of WMD in Iraq was a major justification for going to war. For Vice President Joe Biden and some senior Obama White House staff members (we do not know the position of the president yet), the alleged weakness and ineffectiveness of al-Qaida is sufficient justification for ending our major ground troop presence in Afghanistan.

White letter R on blue background
October 2, 2009

Does Voting Matter? By Susan Estrich

On my way to work this morning, I heard not one but two advertisements urging me to vote for former eBay CEO Meg Whitman as the next governor of California. The ads touted her decades of experience working for such companies as Disney and Hasbro before taking the helm at eBay in 1998 as its first CEO. The pitch was that California needs someone who understands business and job creation as its next chief executive.

White letter R on blue background
October 2, 2009

Senators Have Wires Crossed on Security By Debra J. Saunders

On Tuesday, Najibullah Zazi, a 24-year-old Afghan immigrant who was a teenager in Queens during the Sept. 11 attacks, pleaded not guilty to federal terrorism conspiracy charges in New York.

White letter R on blue background
October 1, 2009

Democrats Win Lobbyists but Lose Basic Reforms By Michael Barone

As Sen. Max Baucus tries to squeeze a health care bill out of the Senate Finance Committee, and as Sens. Barbara Boxer and John Kerry race to meet their latest deadline to introduce a bill to reduce carbon dioxide, some Democrats wonder whether their congressional leaders and the president who has deferred to them have sought only limited changes rather than more fundamental reform on both health insurance and carbon emissions.

White letter R on blue background
October 1, 2009

"Socialism" and Sham in the Senate By Joe Conason

Listening closely to the politicians with the most clout in the debate over health care, it is startling to discover how little they actually seem to know about the subject.

White letter R on blue background
October 1, 2009

Fix Health Care Now, Remove Warts Later By Froma Harrop

"Rome was not built in a day," Montana Democrat Max Baucus said with resignation after the Senate committee he heads voted to reject a "public option." A government-run health plan that would compete with private insurers' offerings, the public option is a means to curb spiraling health care costs.

White letter R on blue background
September 30, 2009

Roman the Rapist By Susan Estrich

He had sex with a 13-year-old girl. He got her to go to Jack Nicholson's house by promising that she would be in a photo shoot. When she got there, he fed her a Quaalude and alcohol -- champagne for a 13-year-old, how enticing -- and then he raped her.

White letter R on blue background
September 30, 2009

Cut and Walk From Afghanistan? By Tony Blankley

The gist of Gen. Stanley McChrystal's analysis that presumably will be presented to President Barack Obama is: If 1) you and Congress fully resource the effort (troops, materiel and civilian aid) and 2) if we get much better at coordinating all our assets -- Defense and State departments, the U.S. Agency for International Development, intelligence, contractors, NATO and others -- then 3) there is a better than even chance of success in Afghanistan, which will take 4) between five and seven more years.

White letter R on blue background
September 29, 2009

Liberals -- Choose Your Friends Wisely By Froma Harrop

Nearly as unappetizing as the video of ACORN workers explaining how to run a prostitution business, cheat on taxes and import underage streetwalkers from Central America is the presence of Michael Moore's mug on TV screens everywhere.

White letter R on blue background
September 29, 2009

L.A. Is Not 'Chinatown' By Debra J. Saunders

Our Betters in Europe, of course, are outraged that Switzerland arrested and may allow the extradition of film director Roman Polanski, 76, a fugitive from California justice after he pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old in 1977.

White letter R on blue background
September 28, 2009

With Obama, Too Much Nuance, Not Enough Power By Michael Barone

"It is my deeply held belief," Barack Obama told the United Nations General Assembly, that "in the year 2009 -- more than at any point in human history -- the interests of nations and peoples are shared."

White letter R on blue background
September 26, 2009

Kevin Warsh Is on the Money By Lawrence Kudlow

Attendees of the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh and members of the Federal Reserve Board in Washington should carefully read a Wall Street Journal op-ed by Fed Governor Kevin Warsh.

White letter R on blue background
September 25, 2009

Congressional Democrats: From Minority to Majority...and Back Again? By Rhodes Cook

When the Democrats lost control of Congress in 1994, few political pundits saw it coming. But such a prospect in 2010, particularly a GOP takeover of the House of Representatives, is already being discussed as a real prospect.

White letter R on blue background
September 25, 2009

FDA: Kiss Those Kiddie-Flavored Cigarettes Goodbye By Susan Estrich

It's hard to argue with the FDA's decision, announced this week, to ban the sale of flavored cigarettes. To be honest, I always thought cigarettes came in regular and menthol, not chocolate and strawberry. The legislation passed earlier this year giving the FDA authority over tobacco products specifically authorized it to ban flavored cigarettes, while protecting the kind that I got hooked on.

White letter R on blue background
September 24, 2009

The Racist Truth About Beck and Limbaugh By Joe Conason

With admirable calm, President Obama has sought to deflect the supercharged politics of race by expressing his optimism about American attitudes and ignoring the most extreme statements by his critics. For his own sake, as well as the nation's, he is wise to give a pass to the likes of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. That is not, however, what they deserve.

White letter R on blue background
September 24, 2009

Lindsay Lohan and the Crash of Fashion By Froma Harrop

Every time the economy swoons and the racks groan with the weight of unsold women's clothing, purveyors of fashion talk up "investment dressing." Investment dressing entails buying a few well-constructed garments that will endure both physically and stylistically for several years.

White letter R on blue background
September 24, 2009

Obama's Time Warp: The U.S. Is Still the Bad Guy By Michael Barone

In the early 1980s, while planning a vacation in Latin America, I went to bookstores to look for histories of the region. All I could find were Marxist tracts arguing that "the people" were exploited by greedy corporations and military dictators, all propped up by the United States.

White letter R on blue background
September 23, 2009

End the Coarsening of Civic Discourse By Tony Blankley

As the town hall meetings on health care started in early August, the Democratic Party's talking points accused the attending citizens of being "demonstrators hired by K Street lobbyists." Then they started calling them a "mob." Getting into the spirit of his party, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called those who oppose Obamacare "evil." Then House Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called the dissenters "un-American." For good measure, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused them of being Nazis.

White letter R on blue background
September 23, 2009

Dear John By Susan Estrich

Last weekend, The New York Times reported on its front page that former Senator, vice presidential candidate and presidential candidate John Edwards was considering "publicly" acknowledging paternity of his mistress's baby, but had not yet brought his wife around to the idea.

White letter R on blue background
September 22, 2009

Canada and France Also Have Health Care Debates By Froma Harrop

The debate over what kind of health care system we should have often includes the kinds others have. The programs in Canada and France have received special attention, and so those countries' efforts to fix their own programs should be of interest.

Daily Presidential
Tracking Poll

President Biden's approval numbers posted every weekday

Top Stories

  1. Daily Presidential Tracking Poll
  2. Biden Approval Declines Again in June
  3. Happy Independence Day!
  4. ABC News: 'Answer Our Questions -- Or Else!'