Datapoints

Super (Celluloid) Mom 05/09/2008

Which television mom would American adults most like to have had when they were growing up? According to an online poll conducted by Harris Interactive, June Cleaver of “Leave it to Beaver” comes out on top, followed by Claire Huxtable of “The Cosby Show” and Carol Brady of “The Brady Bunch.” Men prefer June Cleaver, while women prefer Claire Huxtable; those aged 18 to 31 opt for Lorelei Gilmore of “Gilmore Girls,” while Gen-Xers (Americans aged 32 to 43) prefer Carol Brady. Older respondents (aged 44 and older) choose June Cleaver.

What will Americans do for their off-screen moms this Sunday? Forty-eight percent of adults said they would send their mom a card, followed by 47 percent who said they would buy her a present and 47 percent who said they would call her. Nearly three in ten said they planned to take their mother out to lunch or dinner, and 26 percent said they intended to send flowers. Women were more likely than men to say they planned to buy a present (53 percent compared to 41 percent). Source: Harris Interactive online poll, April 7-15.

American Opinion of the UN 05/08/2008

When asked by Gallup in February what role the United Nations should play in the world, a plurality of Americans (42 percent) favored “a major role where the UN establishes policies but individual countries still act separately when they disagree.” Just over a quarter (26 percent) of respondents said they preferred “a leading role where all countries are required to follow UN policies,” and another 27 percent said they favored a “minor role with the UN serving mostly as a forum for communications between nations.” Source: The Gallup Organization, February 2008.

Our Position in the World: 05/07/2008

When it comes to satisfaction with America’s position in the world, there is a huge gap between Democrats and Republicans. Only 13 percent of Democrats say they are satisfied, compared to 60 percent of Republicans. Democrats and Republicans were divided by a much smaller margin at the end of Bill Clinton’s presidency: in 2000, 78 percent of Democrats said they were satisfied with America’s global position, compared to 57 percent of Republicans. Source: The Gallup Organization, January 2008.

2008 Campaign Tone 05/06/2008

During the run-up to today’s Democratic presidential primaries in Indiana and North Carolina, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton assailed each other’s economic plans. According to a recent Pew Research Center poll, 50 percent of Americans say the campaign is “too negative,” up from 28 percent who said so in February. Republicans, Democrats, and independents all agree that the campaign has become “too negative.” Many people seem to have lost interest in it: in the latest poll, only 29 percent of Americans said they were following the campaign “very closely,” compared to 43 percent who said so before the March primaries. Source: The Pew Research Center, April 2008.

Unfair income distribution? 05/05/2008

When asked by Gallup about the “distribution of money and wealth" in the U.S. today, 27 percent of Americans said it was “fair,” compared to more than two-thirds (68 percent) who said it should be “more evenly distributed.” Variation among different income groups was surprisingly small: majorities of people in all three income groups surveyed by Gallup said income should be more evenly distributed. The responses have remained fairly constant since Gallup first asked the question in 1984. When asked in another question whether the government should or should not “redistribute wealth by heavy taxes on the rich,” 51 percent of Americans said the government should, slightly up from the 45 percent who said so a decade ago. Source: The Gallup Organization, April 2008.

Guns, Religion, Bitterness? 05/02/2008

Most Americans report hearing either “a lot” or “a little” about Barack Obama’s statement that “some small-town Americans cling to guns and religion because they are bitter about their economic situation.” In late April, 52 percent told Pew that they had heard “a lot” about it, 26 percent said they had heard “a little” about it, and just 21 percent reported hearing nothing at all about it. In response to a separate question posed by Gallup, around one-third of Americans said that Hillary Clinton looked down on “working-class” Americans, compared to roughly a quarter who said that about Obama and John McCain. Among Republicans, more than half said that both Clinton and Obama looked down on “average” Americans. Less than a third of Democrats said the same about McCain. Source: The Gallup Organization, April 2008.

On the Hill 05/01/2008

In Harris Interactive's April poll, only 17 percent of Americans rated the job Congress was doing as "excellent" or "good," a number that ties Congress's lowest positive rating since 2006 (reached last December). Both parties fared poorly: only 20 percent of Americans said congressional Democrats were doing an excellent or good job, similar to the 23 percent who said that about congressional Republicans. Source: Harris Interactive, April 2008.

War Weary 04/30/2008

According to Gallup’s most recent poll, 63 percent of Americans say the United States made a mistake in sending troops to Iraq—the highest percentage to give that response since Gallup began asking the question in March 2003 (when only 23 percent said the U.S. had made a mistake). It is also the highest percentage in Gallup’s history of asking the question during periods of active combat, 2 percentage points higher than in 1971, when 61 percent said the United States had made a mistake in sending troops to Vietnam. Source: The Gallup Organization, latest that of April 2008.

The Food Crisis 04/29/2008

With surging food prices and related shortages and riots, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon convened a meeting yesterday with leaders of the World Food Program, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, and 24 other international agencies “to coordinate their action to dampen the global food crisis.” But if a Gallup poll conducted prior to the crisis is any indication, Americans place little confidence in the UN. In mid-February, only 27 percent of Americans said the organization was doing a good job in trying to solve the problems it has to face, the lowest percentage since Gallup first asked the question in 1953. Americans who follow world affairs closely were even less likely to have a favorable impression of the organization (18 percent). Source: The Gallup Organization, latest that of February 2008.

Talk Radio: Just Talk? 04/28/2008

A third of Republicans and those who lean toward the Republican Party listen to conservative talk radio shows and/or watch the hosts on television frequently; another 32 percent do so occasionally. But according to a new poll from Gallup and USA Today, the hosts’ criticism of GOP presidential candidate John McCain would have little impact on how these listeners vote. When asked whether criticism by “some prominent conservative talk radio hosts” would make them more or less likely to vote for McCain, 78 percent of Republicans and those who lean toward the GOP said such criticism would make no difference to them. Eight percent said it would make them “less likely to support” McCain and 1 percent said it would make them “rule him out”. Source: Gallup/USA Today, February 2008.