What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls: Week Ending June 28
Americans continue to worry about the state of the nation’s schools and believe the federal government still doesn’t get it.
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June 28, 2014
June 27, 2014
69% Think U.S. Public Schools Don’t Provide A World-Class Education
Voters still don't believe U.S. schools are producing the kind of graduates needed for this country to remain competitive with the rest of the world.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 68% of Likely U.S. Voters continue to agree with President Obama that a “world-class education is the single most important factor in determining whether our kids can compete for the best jobs and whether America can out-compete countries around the world.” Only 20% disagree with the president's statement from three years ago, while 12% 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 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on June 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.
June 27, 2014
50% Favor a Government College Rating System
President Obama plans to implement a government rating system that will tie a college's performance in several areas including the earning power of its graduates to federal student financial aid. While Americans like the idea of a government rating system for colleges, they don’t trust the government to do it fairly.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 50% of American Adults favor a government college rating system. Twenty-eight percent (28%) oppose such a rating system, while 22% 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 1,000 American Adults was conducted on June 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.
June 27, 2014
Mississippi Senate: Cochran (R) 46%, Childers (D) 34%
Incumbent Thad Cochran, coming off his narrow win in Tuesday’s testy Republican primary runoff, still holds a double-digit lead over Democratic challenger Travis Childers in Mississippi’s U.S. Senate race.
The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Mississippi Voters finds Cochran with 46% support to Childers’ 34%. Ten percent (10%) prefer some other candidate, while nearly as many (9%) 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 Mississippi was conducted on June 25-26, 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.
June 27, 2014
Liberals Champion Freedom of Speech -- Except in Politics By Michael Barone
I'm old enough to remember when American liberals cherished the freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment. They celebrated especially the freedom accorded those with unpopular beliefs and protested attempts to squelch the expression of differing opinions.
June 27, 2014
Voters Blame Bush, Obama Equally for Current Problems in Iraq
Almost immediately after the situation in Iraq went from bad to worse, lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle began pointing fingers at the opposing party’s policies. Voters are evenly divided over whether it was the actions and policies of George W. Bush or Barack Obama that have contributed more to the crisis in Iraq today, but the current administration gets lackluster reviews for its response thus far.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 31% of Likely U.S. Voters rate the Obama administration’s handling of the situation in Iraq as good or excellent. Forty percent (40%) say the administration has done a poor job responding to the crisis there. (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 June 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.
June 26, 2014
33% Say Government Should Forgive Student Loans After A Certain Period of Time
President Obama recently announced that he will use his executive power to expand debt relief programs for those with student loans, including loan forgiveness after 10 or 20 years in the workforce. Americans are only slightly more supportive of forgiving loans after a given period of time than they are of forgiving all student loans, and most say lowering tuition costs would do more for college students than making loans easier to access.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 21% of American Adults think the federal government should forgive all student loans. This finding is unchanged in surveys going to back to 2011. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of adults think the federal government should not forgive all students loans, also in line with findings from 2011. Eleven percent (11%) 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 June 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.
June 26, 2014
Just 40% Approve of Presidential Primary Process
Both major political parties face possibly lengthy presidential primary seasons in 2016, and most voters aren’t sure that’s a good thing.
New Rasmussen Reports national telephone surveying finds that 40% of Likely U.S. Voters think the current primary process is a good way to select a party’s presidential candidate. But 60% don’t agree, with 29% who consider it a bad way to select a presidential candidate and 31% who 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.
Three surveys of 1,000 Likely Voters each were conducted on June 14-15, June 16-17 and June 20-21, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error for each survey 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.
June 26, 2014
What America Thinks: Seal the Border
A new surge of children illegally crossing the U.S. border has many wondering what more needs to be done to reform immigration policy. Historically, voters’ opinions have been overwhelmingly clear: secure the border first. We decided to find out what America thinks.
June 26, 2014
Common Core Support Among Those with School-Age Kids Plummets
Support for Common Core among Americans with school-age children has fallen dramatically, as more now question whether the new national education standards will actually improve student performance.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 34% of American Adults with children of elementary or secondary school age now favor requiring all schools nationwide to meet the same Common Core education standards. That’s an 18-point drop from 52% in early November of last year. Forty-seven percent (47%) oppose the imposition of the national standards, compared to 32% in the previous survey. Little changed are the 19% who 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 1,000 Adults was conducted on June 21-22, 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.
June 26, 2014
The Right's Mistake Was Waking the Others by Froma Harrop
The tea partyers made a serious blunder in Mississippi, costing them a runoff win: They carelessly slipped their magic passion potion to the opposition.
June 26, 2014
44% Still Think Benghazi Will Hurt Hillary Clinton in 2016
A plurality of voters continues to believe the Benghazi controversy will negatively impact Hillary Clinton’s expected bid for the presidency, little changed in surveys since last fall.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 44% of Likely U.S. Voters think the circumstances surrounding the murder of the U.S. ambassador and three other U.S. Embassy employees in Libya will hurt the former secretary of State if she runs for president in 2016. That compares to 46% in January and 43% who felt that way when we first asked the question last October. Seven percent (7%) think the Benghazi issue will help Clinton if she runs for the White House. Thirty-eight percent (38%) say it will have no impact. Eleven percent (11%) 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 Likely Voters was conducted on June 18-19, 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.
June 26, 2014
Republicans: “Thank God for Mississippi!” By Larry J. Sabato, Kyle Kondik and Geoffrey Skelley
Establishment Republicans across the country are saying “Thank God for Mississippi,” but not in the derisive way that political scientist V.O. Key describes it above. The state’s Republican voters, and probably quite a few Democrats, allowed the GOP establishment to fend off a Tea Party challenge to a sitting senator. In the process, they kept Democrats from potentially expanding the Senate’s general election playing field in November and from giving anti-establishment forces in the Republican Senate caucus another ally.
Mississippi, a state often ignored by the national political world, managed to do something rarely seen in politics: Produce two upsets in the same race in a three-week span. And it bucked a trend of generally pathetic turnout in primaries nationwide to produce the second and then first-largest primary turnouts in the history of Mississippi Republican politics.
Mississippi, a trailblazing leader in voter participation? It has been a very odd primary season indeed.
June 25, 2014
27% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction
Twenty-seven percent (27%) 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 June 22.
This is up one point from 26% the week before, the lowest finding since early December 2013. The number who say the country is heading in the right direction has now been less than 30% for 15 of the 25 weeks this year.
(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 on June 16-22, 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.
June 25, 2014
54% Say There’s Too Much Emphasis on Standardized Testing in Schools
Americans continue to believe standardized testing should not be the chief measure of how well a school is performing.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 54% of American Adults think schools place too much emphasis on standardized testing these days. That's up five points from 49% in November. Only 17% don’t think schools place enough emphasis on standardized testing, while just as many (15%) think the level of emphasis is about right. Another 14% 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 American Adults was conducted on June 21-22, 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.
June 25, 2014
New Low: Only 25% Think Their Member of Congress Deserves Reelection
There’s more bad news for congressional incumbents this month: Fewer voters than ever think their local member of Congress deserves reelection.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that eight percent (8%) of Likely U.S. Voters believe Congress is doing a good or excellent job. Sixty-four percent (64%) rate its job performance as poor. (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 June 22-23, 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.
June 25, 2014
Omission Control By John Stossel
Reporter Sharyl Attkisson's story sounds familiar to me: A major network got tired of her reports criticizing government. She no longer works there.
June 25, 2014
56% Think Oil Companies Will Use Iraq Crisis As Excuse to Raise Gas Prices
As the chaos continues in Iraq, most Americans are reporting higher gas prices and expect to pay even more in the near future. But they also tend to think higher fuel costs will be the result of oil companies using the political crisis as an excuse to drive up prices rather than due to an actual reduction in oil output.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 68% of American Adults are paying more for a gallon of gas compared to six months ago. Just three percent (3%) say they are paying less for gas, while 23% report paying about the same amount. (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 nationwide was conducted on June 19-20, 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.
June 24, 2014
26% Rate Supreme Court’s Performance Positively
Americans continue to take a dim view of the U.S. Supreme Court's performance, perhaps in part because most still think the justices base their decisions on their own political agenda rather than the law.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 26% of Likely U.S. Voters think the nation's highest court does a good or excellent job, while just as many (27%) rate its performance as poor. That's consistent with findings for the past year. (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 telephone survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on June 18-19, 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.
June 24, 2014
Nevada Governor: Sandoval (R) 55%, Goodman (D) 28%
Republican Governor Brian Sandoval holds a two-to-one lead over his Democratic challenger in his bid for reelection in Nevada.
Sandoval picks up 55% support to former State Economic Development Commissioner Robert Goodman’s 28%, according to a new Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Nevada Voters. Six percent (6%) prefer some other candidate, while 11% 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 Nevada was conducted on June 16-18, 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.
