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

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June 24, 2011

35% Say Supreme Court Doing Good or Excellent Job, 18% Say Poor

After falling to a four-year low just over two months ago, ratings for the job the U.S. Supreme Court is doing have returned to earlier levels.

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June 24, 2011

51% Want All U.S. Troops Out of Afghanistan Within A Year

President Obama this week announced that the United States will withdraw 10,000 troops from Afghanistan this year and will bring another 23,000 home by the end of next summer. But most voters don't think the president has gone far enough.

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June 24, 2011

The Comeback Kids: Senate Second Acts By Isaac Wood

Bill Clinton is far from the only "comeback kid" in American politics. As we noted last week, many presidents have experienced election losses before they reached the promised land of the White House. A similar story can be told in the U.S. Senate, with 31* senators leaving the chamber only to return at a later date, since the mandate of popular election was passed with the Seventeenth Amendment (a full list is available here).

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June 24, 2011

There He Goes Again By Susan Estrich

There he goes again, fulfilling another promise. Imagine that. When he announced the surge in Afghanistan, he said it was temporary. Democrats, especially liberals, screamed bloody murder. How dare he do what he said he would do during the campaign: focus on Afghanistan, on the threat posed by al-Qaida, on capturing Osama bin Laden, dead or alive?

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June 24, 2011

One-in-Three Voters View Social Security, Medicare Unfavorably

Medicare and Social Security are big helps to most retired Americans, but one-third of voters don’t care much for either of the long-standing government programs.

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June 24, 2011

Feds Crack Down on Campus Flirting and Sex Jokes By Michael Barone

When I was growing up, it was widely believed that colleges and universities were the part of our society with the widest scope for free expression and free speech. In the conformist America of the 1950s, the thinking ran, few people dared to say anything that went beyond a broad consensus. But on campus, anyone could say anything he liked.

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June 23, 2011

49% Blame Team Owners In NFL Labor Dispute

Most football fans don’t think the 2011 National Football League season will start on time, if at all, and half place the blame on the league’s team owners.

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June 23, 2011

Just 18% Think Graphic Warning Labels Will Reduce Smoking

The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now requiring tobacco companies to attach gruesome warning labels to cigarette packs, but few Americans believe the labels will actually cut the number of smokers.

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June 23, 2011

51% Now Recognize Most Federal Spending Goes to Defense, Medicare and Social Security

The majority of voters now understand that most of the federal budget goes to just three areas, but they still want to vote on any proposed changes to the ones that directly impact their retirement. 

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June 23, 2011

Democrats Blue As Senate Acquires a Reddish Tinge By Larry J. Sabato and Kyle Kondik

As we take a fresh look at next year's Senate races, one thing is clear: Barring an unexpected reelection landslide by President Obama, Republicans are at least slightly favored to take the Senate. It's just a basic matter of numbers.

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June 23, 2011

The Mormon Question By Susan Estrich

Back in 1980, when I was working for Sen. Ted Kennedy, the Cardinal of Boston instructed priests to take to their pulpits to denounce the candidacy of Democratic Congressman Barney Frank because of his support for abortion rights. "Get me my brother's speech," the senator said to me.  

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June 23, 2011

61% Are Still Angry At The Media

Most voters are still angry at the media, but they’re less convinced that the majority of reporters are biased in favor of President Obama.

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June 23, 2011

Why Tim Pawlenty Is No Reagan By Froma Harrop

They, some Republicans, are at it again with the pipe dream of helping the middle class by making the rich much richer. We speak of Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota governor and candidate for president. His extraordinary vision for reviving the economy: Stop taxing investment income, and money will come pouring into the U.S. Treasury.

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June 23, 2011

Has the Retirement Nest Egg Cracked?

Americans' ongoing uneasiness about their finances is putting some cracks in how they feel about their retirement nest eggs. The COUNTRY Financial Security Index® dropped one point to 63.7 in June, in part because confidence in retirement reached an all-time low.

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June 22, 2011

26% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction

Twenty-six percent (26%) of Likely U.S. Voters now say the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey taken the week ending Sunday, June 19.

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June 22, 2011

46% Say Average Reporter Is More Liberal Than They Are

Voters still think most reporters are politically biased and tend to view them as more liberal than they are.

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June 22, 2011

25% Favor Abolishing EPA, 61% Oppose

Though voters nationwide place more importance on jobs than environmental protection, just one in four thinks the Environmental Protection Agency should be abolished.

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June 22, 2011

Just 8% Approve of Job Congress Is Doing

Voter approval of Congress' job performance has now fallen to a near five-year low.

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June 22, 2011

GOP Not Isolationist By Tony Blankley

Sen. John McCain, whose life is a continuing exemplar of the American heroic ideal, regrettably has got it quite wrong when he says that growing GOP opposition to the Libyan and Afghan wars is evidence of isolationism. In his words on weekend television:

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June 22, 2011

Most Favor Immigration Police Checks, Tough Sanctions on Those Who Hire or Rent to Illegal Immigrants

Alabama this month became the latest state to authorize routine police checks of immigration status and to require employers to verify that those they hire are in this country legally. Voters continue to strongly support tougher enforcement in both areas.