By Glynn Wilson – While Vice President Joe Biden has only hinted that he might run for president against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a new Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday shows Biden might fare better against any of the Republicans in the general election than Clinton, who until…
Public Opinion
Americans With Postgraduate Degrees Report Edge in Lifelong Learning, Overall Well-Being
By Brandon Busteed and Jessica Stutzman – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans with an education beyond an undergraduate degree show a higher level of well-being than those with less education, according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject, which found that 74 percent of adults in the U.S with graduate degrees say that they learn…
Democratic Party Reclaims Edge in Favorable Ratings as Republicans Drop
By Andrew Dugan WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the 2016 presidential race increasingly dominates political news, Gallup is now reporting that the Democratic Party has regained it historical edge over the Republican Party in favorability ratings, a fact which may have implications for the White House race. As of the latest public opinion poll on the…
Republican Congress Remains the Lowest Rated Institution in American Society
So Why Do They Keep Geting Reelected? – By Jeffrey M. Jones – PRINCETON, N.J. — Americans’ confidence in most major U.S. institutions remains well below the historical average, especially the Republican Congress, according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject. “Congress is the institution in which Americans express the least confidence this year,”…
The Conservative Republican Base is Shrinking
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. – The conservative Republican base is shrinking, as old racists die off. According to the latest Gallup Poll data on the subject, the percentage of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who are conservative on both social and economic issues rises steadily with age. “An analysis of aggregated surveys conducted since…
Making Government and Democracy Work Are Key to Any President’s Image
By Frank Newport – PRINCETON, N.J. — Most Americans believe that managing government effectively is an important requirement for a good president, and in recent years, sitting presidents’ ratings on this trait have closely matched their overall job approval ratings. For example, 44 percent of Americans say that President Barack Obama is an effective manager…
Republican Field for President in 2016 Lacks Star Power of Past Campaigns
By Jeffrey M. Jones – At the outset of the 2016 campaign for president of the United States, the potential Republican candidates identified so far lack the star power of previous campaigns, according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject. The Republican nomination contest is shaping up to be a lot like 2012, with…
Fewer Americans See China’s Economic Power as a Critical Threat to US Interests
By Jeffrey M. Jones – Forty percent of Americans still regard “the economic power of China” as a critical threat to the vital interests of the United States, although that is down from 52 percent in 2014 and 2013, according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject. Since last year, Americans have shifted more…
President Obama’s Job Approval Rating Hits 50 Percent
By Glynn Wilson – Less than a week after President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union address to a new Republican-dominated Congress, his job approval rating reached 50 percent in Gallup’s daily tracking poll, the first time since June 2013. Three months ago, in mid-October, only 39 percent of Americans approved of Obama’s…
Americans Name Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as Most Admired Woman and Man in the World
By Glynn Wilson – Americans continue to name Hillary Clinton as the woman they admire the most in the world, while President Barack Obama gets top billing as the man they admire the most, according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject. Ms. Clinton, who is positioning herself to run to become the first…
Hispanic Voting Bloc Supports President Obama’s Immigration Plan
By Glynn Wilson – While a slim majority of Americans, 51 percent, say they disapprove of President Barack Obama’s executive action to deal with undocumented immigrants living in the United States, Hispanics, African-Americans and other recent immigrants by a wide margin approve of the policy plan to grant legal status to those who have been…
As Health Care Enrollment Begins, 37 Percent of Americans Approve of Affordable Care Act
By Justin McCarthy – WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the Affordable Care Act’s second open enrollment period begins, 37 percent of Americans say they approve of the law, one percentage point below the previous low in January. On the other hand, 56 percent of Americans sampled say they disapprove of the law. Americans were slightly more…
Cell Phone Texting Takes Off as Primary Form of Communication Among Americans
By Glynn Wilson – Texting, using a cellphone and sending and reading email messages are the most frequently used forms of nonpersonal communication for adult Americans topping home phones and Twitter by far, according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject. Between 37 percent and 39 percent of all Americans said they used each…
Slim Majority of Americans Expect Republicans to Take Control of the U.S. Senate in November
By Glynn Wilson – Fifty-two percent of Americans say they expect the Republican Party to win control of the U.S. Senate in November, according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject, although there are a few key races still up in the air that could change that. An even larger majority of Americans, 63…
More Americans Predictably Support Israel Rather Than Hamas in Gaza Fighting
Social Media in This Case Seems to be Having No Measurable Results – ANALYSIS – By Glynn Wilson – More Americans predictably support Israel over Hamas in the latest fighting in Gaza, and those views have not changed measurably in spite of claims by some that the growth in use of social media such as…
Hillary Clinton Is the Best Known, Best Liked Presidential Candidate for 2016
Hillary Clinton is currently the best known and best liked of 16 potential 2016 presidential candidates, according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject, due to her 91 percent familiarity score and plus 19 net favorable rating. The net favorable is based on her 55 percent favorable and 36 percent unfavorable ratings. In the…
A Majority of Americans Still Support the Withdrawal of U.S. Troops from Iraq and Say the War was a Mistake
By Glynn Wilson – A solid majority of Americans, 61 percent, still support President Barack Obama’s decision from 2011 to remove nearly all U.S. troops from Iraq, according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject, and 57 percent of Americans still say the war and invasion was a mistake. Public support for the U.S.…
Public Confidence in American News Media Sources Remains Low
ANALYSIS – By Glynn Wilson – Public confidence in the news media in America continues to post record lows in public opinion surveys, according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject. And while the public’s confidence in television news and newspapers continues to decline to record lows, the amount of crap being passed off…
Political Polarization of the American Public Pollutes Democracy
How Increasing Ideological Uniformity and Partisan Antipathy Affect Politics, Compromise and Everyday LifeANALYSIS – By Glynn Wilson – Republicans and Democrats are more divided along ideological lines – and partisan antipathy is deeper and more extensive – than at any point in the last two decades, according to a new research study from the Pew…
A Majority of Americans View Democratic Presidential Front Runner Hillary Clinton Favorably
But Her Numbers Are Already Starting to Take A DiveBy Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — As Hillary Clinton takes the national stage as the early front runner in the presidential election of 2016, a majority of Americans, 54 percent, view her in a positive light, according to the Gallup Poll’s latest favorability rating survey.…