Royal Blue Hawaii and Ruby Red Kansas are two of the most predictable states in presidential and Senate elections. Yet both states have incumbent governors from the dominant parties who are fighting for their political lives. What gives?
How curious to watch "60 Minutes," the famously hard-hitting TV newsmagazine, bless JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon with prime-time beatification for hiring some interns from poor backgrounds. The segment's headline is "Jobs program benefits Fortune 500 and underprivileged youth."
Twenty-four percent (24%) of Likely U.S. Voters think the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey for the week ending July 27.
This finding, down two points from last week, is the lowest since the beginning of November when the country was fresh off the temporary government shutdown and in the midst of the disastrous rollout of the national health care law. The number who say the country is heading in the right direction has been less than 30% 22 out of 30 weeks this year.
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The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on July 21-27, 2014. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Fieldwork for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Democratic Congressman Gary Peters has now taken the lead over Republican Terri Lynn Land in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race.
The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Michigan Voters finds Peters with a six-point advantage – 45% to 39% - over Land, a former Michigan secretary of state. Six percent (6%) like some other candidate in the race, and 10% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 750 Likely Voters in Michigan was conducted on July 28-29, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Belief that America is winning the War on Terror and is safer than before the 9/11 terrorist attacks have fallen to their lowest levels in three years.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 35% of Likely U.S. Voters now believe the United States and its allies are winning the War on Terror. But that’s down from 39% in January and is the most pessimistic assessment since April 2011. Fifty percent (50%) felt America and its allies were winning a year ago.
Twenty-seven percent (27%) say the terrorists are winning the War on Terror, down from a recent high of 30% in January. Just as many (28%) say neither side is winning. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on April 17-18, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Congress is debating a plan by Republican Congressman Paul Ryan to reform government welfare programs. Most Americans still believe current government anti-poverty programs have no impact on poverty in this country or actually increase it.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that a plurality (44%) of American Adults still think the government spends too much on poverty programs. That’s down from 51% in October 2012 but up from 38% in the previous year. Thirty-one percent (31%) say it doesn’t spend enough in this area, while 14% say the level of spending is about right. Another 10% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on July 26-27, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
I'm the underachiever in my family. My parents also produced Harvard Medical School research director Thomas Stossel. Mom called him the one who had "a real job."
For years, my brother annoyed me by not embracing the libertarianism that changed my life. It bored him. He was comfortable in his Harvard cocoon.
But then he realized that the anti-capitalist activists who fight with me on my TV show are also the people who make life more difficult for doctors, and for patients who want cures.
The number of voters who consider themselves fiscally conservative continues to climb, while one-in-three say they are social liberals.
A new Rasmussen Reports national survey finds that 44% of Likely U.S. Voters now identify themselves as conservative on fiscal issues such as taxes, government spending and business regulation. That’s up from 41% in April and is the highest finding since last July. Just 14% are liberal in this area, while 37% view themselves as moderates. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on July 23-24, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Americans are model voters when you ask them what motivates their voting decisions.
Eighty-three percent (83%) of American Adults believe most of their fellow citizens are not informed voters, but most voters beg to differ in the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also availableon Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on July 27-28, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
The numbers are small for a large country like this, but the alarm is big over the influx of Central American children coming over the southern border. People are merging this special case involving about 57,000 children with generalized anxiety about a broken immigration system that has resulted in an estimated 11 million illegal residents. At bottom are fears that the United States is incapable of managing an orderly immigration program
The surge of solitary children is especially disturbing because the arrivals are so pitiful. The public knows that they are innocents escaping war-like conditions and grinding poverty. But the public also knows that vast stretches of this troubled planet are soaked in misery. If fleeing war, violence and destitution is reason enough to be granted the right to stay in the United States, distressed souls in the hundreds of millions would qualify.
"Pare down the parasitic fringe" of government. "Favor a gospel of work" instead of aristocratic entitlement. "Rationalize finance" and "reverse the Parkinson's law of bureaucracy."
All that sounds like rhetoric from the Tea Party or reform conservatives who assail what they call crony capitalism.
But it's not a contemporary criticism. Those are phrases from a long essay, written more than half a century ago, by the British historian H. R. Trevor-Roper, titled "The General Crisis of the Seventeenth Century."
Michael Barone, senior political analyst at the Washington Examiner, (www.washingtonexaminer.com), where this article first appeared, is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Fox News Channel contributor and a co-author of The Almanac of American Politics. To find out more about Michael Barone, and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2014 THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
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Most Americans still consider marriage important, and those who are married rate it even more importantly.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 78% of American Adults think the institution of marriage is important to U.S. society, including 54% who view it as Very Important. These findings have generally held steady in surveys since May 2011. Just 18% think marriage is not very or Not At All Important to society. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The national survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on July 24-25, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Democrats have taken the lead over Republicans again on the latest Generic Congressional Ballot.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey for the week ending July 27 finds that 41% of Likely U.S. Voters would vote for the Democrat in their district’s congressional race if the election were held today, while 39% would choose the Republican instead.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports from July 21-27, 2014. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Unlike his cousin in Colorado, Democratic incumbent Tom Udall is comfortably ahead of his Republican challenger in New Mexico’s U.S. Senate race.
A new Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely New Mexico Voters finds Udall with 54% support versus Republican Allen Weh’s 33%. Three percent (3%) like some other candidate in the race, and 10% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 860 Likely Voters in New Mexico was conducted on July 21-22, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Voters have long expressed little enthusiasm for getting more involved in Middle East politics, but they are slightly less likely to think this involvement hurts both the region and the United States.
Thirty-two percent (32%) of Likely U.S. Voters now believe that U.S. involvement in Middle Eastern politics hurts stability in that region, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. That’s down five points from 37% last August. Just as many (31%) now say U.S. involvement helps stability in the Middle East, up from 25% last year. Twenty-two percent (22%) believe U.S. involvement has no impact on that region, while 15% more aren’t sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on July 25-26, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Dislike of the new national health care law is at its highest level in several months, with half or more of voters continuing to question its impact on the quality and cost of care.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 39% of Likely U.S. Voters share a favorable opinion of Obamacare for the second month in a row, a low for the year to date. Fifty-seven percent (57%) have an unfavorable view of the law, up three points from 54% last month and just short of April’s high of 58%. The latest findings include 17% with a Very Favorable view of the law and 41% with a Very Unfavorable one. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on July 25-26, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Republican Governor Nathan Deal has pulled even with Democratic challenger Jason Carter in his bid for reelection in Georgia.
Forty-five percent (45%) of Likely Georgia Voters support Carter to Deal’s 44% in the latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate in the race, while eight percent (8%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 750 Likely Voters in Georgia was conducted on July 23-24, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
When Louis Brandeis wrote in 1932 that a "single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country," he was suggesting that state innovations might advance reform on the federal level. The progressive Supreme Court justice surely wasn't imagining anything quite like Brownbackistan.
Some of America’s attention has shifted overseas in recent days, but major problems persist on the homefront.
Republicans continue to be trusted more by voters on the majority of issues regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports including major concerns like the economy, government spending and immigration.
The economy remains the most important issue to voters as the next elections approach. Republicans have a 44% to 39% lead in voter trust in that area. Since June 2009, the GOP has led in voter trust on the economy in all but one survey. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook
Three national surveys of 1,000 Likely Voters each were conducted on July 17-18, July 21-22 and July 23-24, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
