Datapoints

Pessimism & Patriotism 07/02/2008

According to a recent Gallup poll, only 13 percent of Americans say they have “a great deal of confidence” in President George Bush and even fewer (6 percent) express confidence in Congress. However, 81 percent of Americans still believe the United States “has the best system of government in the world,” which is a tribute to those who helped give birth to the nation 232 years ago this Friday.

Source: ABC News, latest that of December 2007.

Rolling Out the Rebates 06/30/2008

U.S. after-tax income increased by $600.3 billion (or 5.7 percent), largely owing to the dispersion of government tax rebates, the Department of Commerce reported Friday. According to Gallup polls conducted in April, May, and June, 45 percent of Americans, including more than half of those with incomes between $24,000 and $90,000, have received a rebate.

The rebates helped fuel a 0.8 percent rise in consumer spending in May, the largest increase since last November. Still, Gallup’s findings suggest that the rebates have had little effect on recipients' views about the economy’s current or future condition.

Source: The Gallup Organization, March-May 2008.

Economic Woe in the Media 06/27/2008

Is the media exaggerating the nation’s economic woes? According to a Pew Research Center poll conducted in mid-June, a plurality (48 percent) of Americans say news reports make the economy seem “about the way it really is,” compared to 34 percent who say such reports make the economy seem worse than it really is and 14 percent who say they make it seem better than it really is. There are strong partisan differences, with 57 percent of Republicans, compared to only 21 percent of Democrats, saying the media makes the economy seem worse. A plurality of independents and a majority of Democrats say coverage is generally accurate.

Source: Pew Research Center, January-February 2008.

Who Is #1? 06/25/2008

According to a Pew Research Center poll, 41 percent of Americans say the United States is the world’s leading economic power, followed by 30 percent who say China and 10 percent who say Japan. This represents a sharp reversal for Japan: in Pew polls conducted in 1989 and 1990, more Americans said Japan was the leading economic power than said that about the United States.

Still, Americans remain divided in their opinion of the nation's economic prospects. In an ABC News/ Washington Post poll conducted in late January-February, 49 percent of Americans said the United States was in “a long-term economic decline,” compared to 47 percent who said the country’s economic system was “basically solid.” Responses were similar when the pollsters asked the question in 1996.

Source: Pew Research Center, January-February 2008.

Talking with the Enemy? 06/23/2008

Throughout the Cold War, Americans told pollsters that they thought it was important for U.S. leaders to talk with Soviet leaders. That same sentiment appeared when Gallup asked Americans whether it was a “good idea” for the president of the United States to meet with Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Nearly six in ten Americans said it was. In a separate question, roughly two-thirds of Americans said it was a good idea for the U.S. president to meet with leaders of countries that are considered enemies of the United States.

Source: The Gallup Organization, May 2008.

Abortion, Part II: 06/20/2008

According to a recent Gallup poll, 13 percent of Americans say they would only vote for a candidate who shares their views on abortion, a number similar to the percentage of Americans who told exit pollsters that abortion was the most important issue influencing their vote in 1992 (12 percent), 1996 (9 percent), and 2000 (14 percent). Exit pollsters did not ask a comparable abortion question in 2004. As a “single issue” vote determinant, 13 percent is large; and, as Gallup reports, this one has benefited Republicans.

Source: The Gallup Organization, May 2008.

Abortion, Part I: 06/18/2008

Nationally, Americans are slightly more likely to call themselves “pro-choice” (50 percent) than “pro-life” (44 percent), according to a recent Gallup poll. Still, Americans are slightly more likely to describe abortion as “morally wrong” (44 percent) than “morally acceptable” (40 percent). Views on whether abortion should be legal under any circumstances (28 percent), legal under certain circumstances (54 percent), or illegal under all circumstances (17 percent) have not changed appreciably since Gallup first asked the question in 1975.

Source: The Gallup Organization, May 2008.

Sex & the Country 06/16/2008

According to a recent Gallup survey, six in ten Americans say sex between unmarried people is “morally acceptable.” Opinion splits evenly on homosexual relations (48 percent of Americans say such relations are “morally acceptable” and 48 percent say they are “morally wrong”), and overwhelmingly opposes extramarital affairs. These numbers have remained stable since 2001, when Gallup first began asking the questions. Respondents were asked to think about each issue in personal (rather than legal) terms.

Source: The Gallup Organization, May 2008. 

Second Amendment Guarantee? 06/13/2008

The Supreme Court is expected to rule this month on whether the District of Columbia’s ban on handgun ownership is constitutional. In a February Gallup poll, prior to the Court’s hearing of the D.C. v. Heller case, 73 percent of Americans said the Second Amendment “guarantees the right of Americans to own guns,” while 20 percent said it “only guarantees members of state militias, such as National Guard units, the right to own guns.” Strong majorities of both gun owners (91 percent) and non-owners (63 percent) said the amendment guaranteed the right to own guns.

When Harris Interactive asked a similar question in May, 70 percent of Americans said the Second Amendment supported "an individual's right to bear arms" (41 percent of respondents said it supported this right alone, and 29 percent that it supported both this right and "a state's right to form a militia"). Seventeen percent of Americans said the Amendment only supported "a state's right to form a militia," and 5 percent said that it supported neither right.

Source: Harris Interactive, May 2008.

Bush’s Legacy 06/11/2008

Throughout the primary season, Barack Obama has tried to tie John McCain to President Bush’s economic and foreign policies. According to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job as president, including 52 percent who “strongly” disapprove. As ABC polling analyst Gary Langer notes, the president has now gone 40 months without the approval of the majority of Americans, beating Harry Truman’s record of 38 months. But partisan differences are strong: 69 percent of Republicans say they approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president. How the president’s ratings will affect McCain in the fall remains to be seen. 

Source: ABC News/Washington Post, May 2008.