While Obama’s job ratings are up at least slightly among many demographic groups, one of the most striking turnarounds over the past year is in the views of Hispanics. Read more.
It’s hard not to assume that the upswing in President Obama’s job approval rating among hispanics relates to the recent push for immigration reform. And though well it may be, it’s worth remembering that immigration isn’t the sole politically-influenced area of hispanic life in America. There’s a panoply of topics before us — jobs, health care, education, justice, and social issues among them — that animate people across all demographic lines. It’s important not to lose sight of that complexity.
Recently, Public Policy Polling sought to discover just how low the public’s opinion of Congress had fallen, testing the popularity of the U.S. Congress against twenty-six different, typically unpopular things. We all know that the American people have a less-than-favorable opinion of Congress (9% favorable and 85% unfavorable), but damn. The results weren’t pretty.
Here’s the outcome of PPP’s survey, in a handy illustrated form, from most to least popular thing:
#1:
vs.
When presented with a choice between Congress or Brussels sprouts, respondents gave a higher favorable rating to Brussels sprouts (69%) versus Congress (23%). [more]
Be sure to check out Meg’s full list, which is freaking awesome.
Talk show host Stephen Colbert is South Carolina voters’ preferred candidate to replace Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), according to a new poll by the Democratic Public Policy Polling.
The Comedy Central host, who’s openly lobbied for the seat, leads a field where the rest of the names are Republicans: 20 percent of voters want South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) to appoint him to DeMint’s seat when the senator resigns from Congress.
Some of the other names that Colbert was up against include Rep. Trey Gowdy (14%), former South Carolina First Lady Jenny Sanford (11%), former South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster (8%) and former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (8%). Don’t get us wrong. We know that Stephen has a snowball’s chance in hell of actually being tapped by Gov. Haley. This certainly won’t do anything to end rumors that the comedian is considering a run for the Senate seat in 2014 though.
Dean Chambers, the man behind UnskewedPolls, admitted following a tough election that he’d been wrong on his premise that polls systematically underrated GOP challenger Mitt Romney. A couple weeks of reflection, however, and Chambers is back in action. He claims the president is little more than Barack O’Fraudo, having won four states (Ohio, Virginia, Florida, and Pennsylvania) through malfeasance. As to whether he still finds Nate Silver too skinny and effeminate to be trusted on numerical matters, that’s an open question. source
I spoke about what I believed and I think that there was a period of time when the Romney campaign was falling apart, people were not optimistic, nobody thought there was a chance of victory and I felt that it was my duty at that point to go out and say what I said. And at the time that I said it, I believe I was right.Fox News analyst Dick Morris • Speaking to Fox News host Sean Hannity last night, on the matter of his woefully optimistic pre-election prediction that Mitt Romney would defeat President Obama in a landslide, with 325 electoral votes. Of note, right there in his explanation, an overt admission that he felt obliged to promote the idea of a Romney landslide (which was profoundly statistically unlikely) out of a sense of “duty.” He’s essentially admitting he’s more activist than pollster, which is fine — so long as your job description accurately reflects that. Otherwise, as an analyst, you’re doing anything but. source
In 2007, I was...
I started tumblr when I was at one of the lowest points of...
Exclusive: How the Syrian Electronic Army hacked the...
soon
Yahumblr.
Google found the...
» What this means: While the movement does enjoy a plurality of support (in this poll, at this moment in time), a huge percentage of people haven’t yet made up their minds about it. This means there’s a lot of room for public opinion to swing either way, so decisions on the part of OWS’s still-emerging leadership over the next couple of months will be crucial in solidifying public support or rejection of the movement. This, in turn, will help determine whether or not OWS’s message actually ends up affecting legislation that comes out of Washington. Will Occupy Wall Street become the next Tea Party, which has had a huge impact on national politicians, or is it just a passing fad? According to this poll, the answer to that question is “to be determined.”
» Is the grass just looking greener from here? So, something seems to be happening. Even as Governor Chris Christie’s national profile has expanded, and his frequent denial of national ambition can barely beat back the GOP clamoring for him to enter the 2012 race, his poll numbers back in the Garden State aren’t looking so hot. We’re wondering if this might have to do with the difference between how it looks from outside to see a “tough” leader calling the shots, versus how it feels to be the constituents under that thumb. Strident austerity measures, YouTube videos of Christie verbally sparring with public employees, and his generally bombastic personality may play like a GOP action movie in Oklahoma, but could it be wearing thin on those closest to it?
I’m reblogging this from soupsoup, because I don’t want people to get too giddy about a single poll showing 60 percent. A Pew poll conducted around the same time frame - May 5-9 (“The Associated Press-GfK Poll was conducted May 5-9 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications”) - shows the President’s approval rating at 50 percent. [more]
To emphasize, as our friend Zach emphasizes, polling is an inexact science. He has some pretty smart thoughts on this whole matter to emphasize that AP shouldn’t be as far as we think about the whole issue. Thanks for mentioning this and offering perspective, man.
Copyright 2009-2013 Ernie Smith • Ask us stuff! • E-mail us • Follow us on Twitter • Follow us on Facebook
