Datapoints

Taxes and the Candidates 05/23/2012 

Several recent polls have asked which of the presidential candidates would do a better job on taxes. The latest, from Quinnipiac University, shows registered voters evenly divided, 43 to 43 percent. Ten percent of Republicans and Democrats said the opposition party’s candidate would do better. Independents gave the nod to Romney by 49 to 36 percent.

In a new Gallup poll, 53 percent of respondents said their taxes would be increased in the next 12 months, 41 percent said there wouldn’t be any change, and 3 percent said they would be lower.

Source: Quinnipiac University, April 2012.

The Winner in November 05/21/2012 

The GOP nominating contest is essentially over, and Mitt Romney is rolling out his general election campaign strategy. The polls suggest a close race, but when Americans are asked who will win “regardless of whom you support, and trying to be as objective as possible,” Barack Obama has a strong lead. A third of Republican respondents in the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll thought Obama would win. Twelve percent of Democrats said Romney would.

Source: CNN/Opinion Research Corporation, April 2012.

Immigration’s Importance 05/18/2012 

In a new Pew Research Center poll, 42 percent of respondents said immigration would be very important to their vote in November. That’s down from 54 percent in 2008 and 58 percent in 2010. Concern is down 16 points for Republicans and for Independents over the 2008 to 2012 period. For Democrats, it was down 6 points.

Source: Pew Research Center, latest that of April 2012.

The Primary Process 05/16/2012 

Not very many people are satisfied with the presidential primary system. In a mid-April Pew Research Center poll, 30 percent of respondents said the primaries had been a good way of determining who the best qualified nominee is. Thirty-five percent gave that response in June 2008. This year, 39 percent of Republicans said they had been a good way to select a candidate, while 51 percent said they had not.

Source: Pew Research Center, latest that of April 2012.

Getting the Job Done? 05/14/2012 

In a new Fox News poll, 12 percent of respondents approved of the job Congress was doing. That is very much in line with other polls. A mid-April United Technologies/Congressional Connection/National Journal poll found that 79 percent of those surveyed believe it is very important for Congress to address the jobs situation. In a separate question, only 19 percent of those polled said it was very likely and 37 percent somewhat likely that Congress and the administration would agree on legislation in this area. Similarly, 73 percent said it was very important for Congress to address the deficit. Ten percent thought it was very likely and 27 percent somewhat likely Congress and the administration will agree on legislation in the area.

Source: United Technologies/Congressional Connection/National Journal, April 2012.

Political Knowledge 05/11/2012 

The Pew Research Center recently released the results of one of its popular new quizzes, in which respondents are asked to identify the political party of key historical and contemporary figures. Ronald Reagan (85 percent correct), Bill Clinton (84 percent), and John F. Kennedy (78 percent), were the most well-known figures. Sixty-one percent of respondents were able to correctly identify Nancy Pelosi as a Democrat; Pelosi’s counterpart, John Boehner, was correctly identified as a Republican by 55 percent of those polled. Interestingly, more Republican respondents knew that Pelosi was a Democrat than Democratic respondents. Abraham Lincoln was correctly placed by 55 percent and Franklin Roosevelt by 58 percent. Overall, Pew reported, “Republicans fare substantially better than Democrats on several questions in the survey, as is typically the case in surveys about political knowledge.”

Source: Pew Research Center, March-April 2012.

Limiting Military Deployments 05/09/2012 

In a new ABC/Washington Post poll, 80 percent of Americans surveyed said the military should limit the amount of time service members can be deployed to combat areas, while 15 percent said limits on deployments are not necessary. In another question in the poll, 44 percent said the incident in which a U.S. soldier has been accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians was an isolated one, while 43 percent thought it indicated broader problems with the way the military monitors the mental health of service members.

Source: ABC news/Washington Post, April 2012.

The Likability Quotient 05/07/2012 

In a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, 64 percent of respondents said Barack Obama “seems like the more friendly and likable person,” while only 26 percent said that about Mitt Romney. On another question, 55 percent said Obama was more inspiring while 29 percent said Romney was. In the April Fox News poll of registered voters, 47 percent said Obama was more optimistic. Forty percent said Romney was.

Source: ABC News/Washington Post, April 2012.

Stand Your Ground? 05/04/2012 

A new ABC News/Washington Post poll asked about laws that say a person “is legally entitled to fight back with deadly force if they feel threatened, even if they could retreat instead,” commonly known as “stand your ground” laws. Fifty percent of those polled supported these laws, while 45 percent opposed them. There was a sharp split in the opinions of blacks and whites. Twenty-eight percent of blacks compared to 55 percent of whites supported the laws. In the poll, blacks and whites also differed sharply about whether blacks and other minorities receive equal treatment in the criminal justice system. Forty-four percent of whites said they did, 49 percent said they did not. Only 10 percent of blacks said their treatment was equal to whites. Eighty-four percent disagreed.

Source: ABC News/Washington Post, April 2012.

Whom Can You Trust? 05/02/2012 

Fox News asked registered voters a series of questions about Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. In the new poll, respondents split evenly on whether they trusted Obama more (44 percent) or Romney (42 percent). When asked which candidate is more likely to tell you the truth, 39 percent said Obama and 37 percent Romney. A significant 18 percent said neither. Republicans and Democrats backed their party’s candidate on both questions. Independents tilted toward Obama.

Source: Fox News, April 2012.