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By 56 to 35% Americans think that Obama has changed the country for the worse

One would think that this fact alone would give Romney a significant leg up in the election.

. . . A new poll for The Hill found 56 percent of likely voters believe Obama’s first term has transformed the nation in a negative way, compared to 35 percent who believe the country has changed for the better under his leadership.
The results signal broad voter unease with the direction the nation has taken under Obama’s leadership and present a major challenge for the incumbent Democrat as he seeks reelection this fall. . . .
The feeling that Obama has changed the country for the worse is strongest among Republicans, at 91 percent, compared to 71 percent of Democrats who support Obama’s brand of change.
Strikingly, 1-in-5 Democrats say they feel Obama has changed the United States for the worse.
Compared to the sentiment about Obama’s impact, fewer people see presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney as a candidate who will change the country dramatically if elected. . . .

"Only 6 Percent of Americans Say Health Care is the Top U.S. Problem"

Economy obamacare poll

Remember this is before Obamacare actually goes into effect. A new Gallup poll finds that only 6% of Americans think that health care is the most important policy problem in the country.

The other important finding is that satisfaction about the way that things are going in the US down to 20%. Click here to see the details of the survey.

If John Roberts changed his position on Obamacare to protect the court from being called political, the initial polls are not encouraging

Constitution obamacare poll SupremeCourt

It is possible that the Supreme Court's approval rating would have fallen anyway as the Obama administration and Democrats would have savaged them if they struck down Obamacare, but this can't be encouraging. From Rasmussen Reports:

Public opinion of the Supreme Court has grown more negative since the highly publicized ruling on the president’s health care law was released. A growing number now believe that the high court is too liberal and that justices pursue their own agenda rather than acting impartially.
A week ago, 36% said the court was doing a good or an excellent job. That’s down to 33% today. However, the big change is a rise in negative perceptions. Today, 28% say the Supreme Court is doing a poor job. That’s up 11 points over the past week. . . .
Thirty-seven percent (37%) now believe the Supreme Court is too liberal, while 22% think it's too conservative. A week ago, public opinion was much more evenly divided: 32% said it was too liberal and 25% said too conservative. . . .

Jan Crawford at CBS is someone who I have met and I think that she comes across as quite credible. She claims to have two well placed sources who say that Roberts changed his position as a result of outside pressure on the court.

Chief Justice John Roberts initially sided with the Supreme Court's four conservative justices to strike down the heart of President Obama's health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act, but later changed his position and formed an alliance with liberals to uphold the bulk of the law, according to two sources with specific knowledge of the deliberations.
Roberts then withstood a month-long, desperate campaign to bring him back to his original position, the sources said. Ironically, Justice Anthony Kennedy - believed by many conservatives to be the justice most likely to defect and vote for the law - led the effort to try to bring Roberts back to the fold.
"He was relentless," one source said of Kennedy's efforts. "He was very engaged in this."
But this time, Roberts held firm. And so the conservatives handed him their own message which, as one justice put it, essentially translated into, "You're on your own." . . .
Some of the conservatives, such as Justice Clarence Thomas, deliberately avoid news articles on the Court when issues are pending (and avoid some publications altogether, such as The New York Times). They've explained that they don't want to be influenced by outside opinion or feel pressure from outlets that are perceived as liberal.
But Roberts pays attention to media coverage. As Chief Justice, he is keenly aware of his leadership role on the Court, and he also is sensitive to how the Court is perceived by the public.
There were countless news articles in May warning of damage to the Court - and to Roberts' reputation - if the Court were to strike down the mandate. Leading politicians, including the President himself, had expressed confidence the mandate would be upheld. . . . .

The funny thing is that while the liberals on the court talk about giving respect to legislative decisions, it is clear that they only give respect to decisions by liberal legislatures. For example, the court just recently struck down a decision to give life sentences without parole to juveniles who commit especially heinous acts of murder. The court had previously struck down the death penalty for 17 year olds, and states moved to have life in prison. Now that has been struck down.

62% of Americans feel that we are in a recession

Economy poll stimulus

A new Rasmussen poll is depressing.

Sixty-two percent of Americans feel the country has slid into a recession, a Rasmussen Reports poll finds.
Meanwhile broader confidence in the economy continues to fall.
The Rasmussen Consumer Index, which measures consumer confidence on a daily basis, dropped three points on Sunday to 84.9. The index is down a point from a week ago, down two points from one month ago and down four points from three months ago. . . .

Voters react very quickly to bad economic news

Economy poll

This is available here.

Difference between men and women voting in Canada: Men much more likely to support conservatives than women

menversuswomen poll

From the Angus Reid Opinion Survey:

Among male decided voters, the Conservatives keep a sizeable lead over the New Democrats (43% to 28%). Among women, the NDP is now the frontrunner (39%), with the Tories eight points behind (31%). The New Democrats also have a double-digit lead over the Conservatives among voters aged 18-to-34 (40% to 30%). The Tories hold a 12-point advantage among Canadians over the age of 55 (41% to 29%). . . .

New poll shows that 59% say US is still in a recession

Economy poll

From Rasmussen Reports available here.

More on how sensitive public opinion is to new news on the economy

Economy Obama2012 poll unemployment

The Bloomberg article is entitled: "Cooling Job Market Takes Toll on U.S. Confidence: Economy"

More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week andconsumer confidence declined by the most in a year, signaling that a cooling labor market may restrain household spending.
Jobless claims fell to 388,000 from a revised 389,000 the prior week that was the highest since early January, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index declined to minus 35.8 from minus 31.4 the previous week. . . .

83% of voters think the US is still in a recession

Obama2012 poll stimulus

From Fox News:

One reason the president’s job approval suffers: 83 percent of voters think the country is still in a recession -- including 35 percent who think things could get worse. That’s little changed from a year ago, when 82 percent thought the country was still in a recession (with 38 percent saying things could get worse).
Overall, 15 percent of voters believe the recession is over. That’s mostly unchanged from 16 percent last year (April 2011).
Meanwhile, the poll finds an increase in optimism over the past two years. Fifty-four percent today think that while the economy is still in recession, things are getting better or think the recession is over and the economy is recovering. That’s up from 49 percent last year, and 43 percent who felt that way in 2010. . . .

Increasing support for gun ownership

Guns poll Regulation

Source: Pew Research Center.

Currently, 49% of Americans say it is more important to protect the rights of Americans to own guns, while 45% say it is more important to control gun ownership. Opinion has been divided since early 2009, shortly after Barack Obama’s election. From 1993 through 2008, majorities had said it was more important to control gun ownership than to protect gun rights. . . .

Washington Post-ABC poll: 76 percent of Americans say that we are still in a recession

Economy poll stimulus

76 percent of the American people believe the economy is still in recession. That not only includes 85 percent of Republicans but also 68 percent of Democrats and 77 percent of independents. From the Washington Post:

Seventy nine percent of people with a household income under $50,000 say the economy is still in a recession, the same number of people who make between $50,000 and $100,000 who believe it is. Seventy six percent of men say the economy is in recession while 75 percent of women say the same. What the consistency of those numbers suggest is that the belief that the economy remains caught in recession are neither unique to people of a certain partisan bent or those of a particular demographic group. And that’s a problem for President Obama. . . . Seventy six percent of respondents said that the economy is “still in recession” while just 21 percent said the recession is over, according to the Post-ABC poll. While 85 percent of Republicans feel the economy is still in recession so do 68 percent of Democrats and 77 percent of independents. . . .

75% of Americans support allowing law-abiding citizens to get a concealed weapons permit

CastleLaw ConcealedCarry poll

The result that 75% support and only 13% oppose people carrying concealed handguns is probably not too surprising given that in one way or another 49 states have laws allowing people to carry concealed handguns. Results of a Reuters/Ipsos poll are shown here:

"Democrats in the United States more likely to believe in Bigfoot (33%) than Republicans or Independents."

Canada Democrats poll

Apparently Americans are more likely than Canadians to believe in Big Foot, and Democrats are responsible for pulling up this average. The results are from a new Angus Reid survey. The difference between Republicans and Democrats is outside the margin of error.

Californians overwhelmingly support the death penalty

DeathPenalty poll

This new Survey USA poll has some surprising results. Women are more likely than men to keep the death penalty (63% to 59%). Every age group has a clear majority supporting it, from younger voters at 57/31 to seniors at 62/29. Strong majorities of black and Hispanic voters support it, even while opponents claim it gets applied in a discriminatory fashion against minority defendants. It’s no surprise to see 70% of Republicans supporting it, but 56% of Democrats do as well – and even a plurality of self-described liberals want it as an option (48/44).

61% of registered voters from the state of California say they would vote to keep the death penalty, should a death penalty initiative appear on the November 2012 ballot, according to this latest SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for KGTV-TV San Diego, KPIX-TV San Francisco, KFSN-TV Fresno, and KABC-TV Los Angeles. 29% say they would vote to eliminate the death penalty. Keeping the death penalty law in California is supported by a majority among all groups except liberals, who are divided. . . .

Weird poll: almost half of women would prefer having larger breasts than higher intelligence

poll womenversusmen

From the UK Daily Mail:

They say it’s what’s inside that counts – but most young women in this country would beg to differ, it seems.
Shocking new research shows almost half of young women aged 18 to 25 would prefer to have large breasts than high intelligence - with a third even saying they would gladly swap. . . .
The survey of 1,142 women by the discount website by www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk aimed to discover more about the attitudes young women hold towards brains and beauty.
In contrast with bigger breasts would attract more men, just 43 per cent felt that men would be ‘more interested’ in them if they had a higher IQ.
Researchers also found around 40 per cent of respondents would rather have a ‘slim figure’ than high intelligence, with many stating that it would make them feel ‘more confident’.
Almost the same percentage of people said they would swap their IQ in order to be their ‘ideal dress size’.
When it came to relationships, most women felt men ‘valued’ intelligence in women, although two thirds said they felt appearance was more important when attracting a partner. . . .

Rasmussen: "60% Say U.S. Economy in Recession"

book poll stimulus

While the media's positive spin on things undoubtedly has a major impact, on February 27, 2012 60% of Americans still think that we are in a recession.

Surprisingly little opposition to Obamacare's mandate that religious organizations provide contraceptions and abortions

Abortion healthcare obamacare poll

Given that Obamacare will force the provision of morning after pills, this is more than contraception. In any case, I am surprised that not much more than 50 percent of voters oppose this use of government force. Rasmussen Reports finds:

Half of voters do not agree with the Obama administration’s action forcing Catholic institutions to pay for birth control measures that they morally oppose. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 39% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the government should require a church or religious organization to provide contraceptives for women even if it violates their deeply held beliefs. Fifty percent (50%) disagree and oppose such a requirement that runs contrary to strong beliefs, while 10% more are undecided. . . .

Meanwhile, Obama appears to be giving a different cover to their policies. From Fox News:

Obama's chief spokesman and his top campaign strategist both said the administration was searching for ways to allay the concern of Roman Catholics who say the birth control mandate would force them to violate their religious beliefs against contraception. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said the policy was a "huge mistake" that the administration should reconsider. "And if they don't, Congress will act," McConnell said. . . .
Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod made the same point. "The real question is how do we get together and resolve this in a way that respects the concerns that have been raised but also assures women across this country that they're going to have the preventive care that they need," Axelrod said on MSNBC.
The comments by Axelrod and Carney created a sense that the White House's public emphasis has clearly shifted and that further accommodation would be considered. But there was no sign the administration would move to completely withdraw the rule, and it was unclear that the White House could strike the balance of ensuring contraceptive coverage for all while defusing the fierce opposition of some religious groups when those two points are in conflict. . . .

"Obama the most polarizing president ever"

ObamaAdministration poll

So much for running to unit the country. Now the press concludes that if Obama couldn't get rid of the gap it is probably impossible to erase. From the Washington Post:

President Obama ran — and won — in 2008 on the idea of uniting the country. But each of his first three years in office has marked historic highs in political polarization, with Democrats largely approving of him and Republicans deeply disapproving.

For 2011, Obama’s third year in office, an average of 80 percent of Democrats approved of the job he was doing in Gallup tracking polls, as compared to 12 percent of Republicans who felt the same way. That’s a 68-point partisan gap, the highest for any president’s third year in office — ever. (The previous high was George W. Bush in 2007, when he had a 59 percent difference in job approval ratings.)

In 2010, the partisan gap between how Obama was viewed by Democrats versus Republicans stood at 68 percent; in 2009, it was 65 percent. Both were the highest marks ever for a president’s second and first years in office, respectively.

What do those numbers tell us? Put simply: that the country is hardening along more and more strict partisan lines. . . .

British Poll Shows Large differences Perceived Intolerance Towards different Groups

poll racialdiscrimination

It is interesting how small a share of the population these different minority groups make in the UK. Pakistanis make up 1.9% of the population in 2009, Bangladeshis make up 0.7%, and Blacks of all types make up 2.9% (African blacks make up 1.5%). I can't easily find the share for Romani, so I assume that it is very small. I thought that discrimination might be related in someway to their population shares, but that isn't immediately obvious from the data. See the poll data here:

More than half of respondents (54%) believe the UK is an intolerant society towards people of Romani origin, and almost half (49%) believe Arabs face comparable treatment. Other groups perceived to be receiving intolerance are Pakistanis (43%), Bangladeshis (37%) and Black Africans (30%). . . .

Democrats are far more likely to support regulations on using cell phones while driving

poll Regulation

Zogby has these polling results.

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of adults support a National Transportation Safety Board recommendation for a nationwide ban on the use of cell phones and text messaging devices while driving, a new IBOPE Zogby poll finds.
The IBOPE Zogby interactive poll of 2,099 U.S. adults conducted Dec. 22-27 finds that 41% of respondents strongly agree with the NTSB recommendation, compared to just 22% who say they strongly disagree.

Women (49%) are more likely than men (31%) to say they strongly agree with a nationwide ban on cell phones and text devices while driving. More than half of adults age 65+ (58%) say they strongly support such a ban, while those age 18-29 and 30-49 (34% each) are least likely to voice strong support.

Democrats (59%) are far more likely than Independents (33%) and Republicans (27%) to strongly agree with a nationwide ban. . . .

Hot News of the World