America's Favorite Pastime?
Baseball has long been considered “America’s favorite pastime.” In a recent Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll, 10 percent of participants listed baseball as their “favorite sport to participate in,” the highest number for any one sport. Eight percent listed football as their favorite, followed by 7 percent each for basketball and golf. When it comes to watching sports, however, Americans overwhelmingly prefer football. When asked in the same poll about their “favorite spectator sport,” 36 percent of participants opted for football, compared to 13 percent for baseball.
Source: Fox News/Opinion Dynamics, August 2007.

The Terrorist Next Door
Americans remain wary about terrorists who may be living in the United States. In a recent Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll, an overwhelming nine out of ten participants said that they believed members of Al Qaeda were living on American soil. When asked about the situation closer to home, however, opinion was more closely divided. Forty-eight percent said they thought it was very or somewhat likely that terrorists were living in their “city or hometown,” while 47 percent said it was not likely.
Source: Fox News/Opinion Dynamics, September 2007. 

Star Turns

Hollywood personalities are weighing in on all sides of the political debate these days, and some are endorsing candidates. Americans remain divided about their activity. When asked in a CBS/New York Times poll whether celebrities “offer a new perspective…and should get involved,” or whether they are “inexperienced about political issues and should stay out of politics,” 46 percent supported involvement while 49 percent opposed it. Some subgroups were more likely to support actor activism than others. Sixty-one percent of Democrats and 56 percent of women said Hollywood celebrities should get involved with politics.

Source: CBS/New York Times, September 2007.

Satisfaction with Contenders
Fred Thompson's entry into the presidential race this month hasn’t changed Republicans' level of satisfaction with their candidates. In a new ORC/CNN poll, 73 percent said they were satisfied, virtually unchanged from the 70 percent who gave that response in March. Democrats continue to be more satisfied with their field than Republicans. In the most recent poll, 85 percent of Democrats said they were satisfied with their party's candidates.
*Sample is self-identified registered voters.
Source: Opinion Research Corporation/CNN, September 2007.

A Third Party?
As the nation moves closer to the 2008 presidential primaries, Americans are focusing their attention on the Democratic and Republican front-runners—even if they have become somewhat disenchanted with the parties themselves. When asked in a recent Gallup poll whether Republican and Democratic parties did “an adequate job of representing the American people” or whether a third major party was needed, 57 percent indicated that a third party was needed. When asked the same question a year ago, just 48 percent gave that response. Most polls like this one show support for a third party in the abstract.
Source: The Gallup Organization, latest of September 2007.