Gallup: Americans Now Care About Environment

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Apparently, Americans now favor the environment over energy production, which would be nice if it was a long-lasting sentiment. But give it a few months. Americans are fickle and reactive. Polling Americans reflects but a moment in time. But there was an interesting nugget in a recent Gallup poll. Republicans who took part in the poll were steadfast: in March, 62% said energy over environment and in May, 62% said energy first. Only democrats and independents changed their minds. I suppose that's why politicians are always chasing independents.

The new results are based on a May 24-25 USA Today/Gallup poll. In March, by 50% to 43%, Americans said it was more important to develop U.S. energy supplies than to protect the environment, continuing a trend in the direction of energy production seen since 2007. Now, the majority favor environmental protection, by 55% to 39% -- the second-largest percentage (behind the 58% in 2007) favoring the environment in the 10-year history of the question. Gallup

Obama Tops Most Admired of 2009

I hate polls.
Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin are one point within each other and that clearly shows the ignorance of the American public or the bogusness of these polls. Hillary is a hugely accomplished person and is Secretary of State. Palin quit her governorship to write a book and is constantly being harassed by her daughter's baby's father. Come on.

President Obama is the man Americans admired most in 2009, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, while Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin are virtually tied as the most-admired woman.
The close finish by Clinton, named by 16% in the open-ended survey, and Palin, named by 15%, reflects the nation's partisan divide. Clinton was cited by nearly 3 in 10 Democrats but only 6% of Republicans, Palin by a third of Republicans but less than 1% of Democrats.

Obama dominates the field among men at 30%, though his support also shows a partisan split. He was named by more than half of Democrats but just 7% of Republicans. More at USA Today

Among most admired men, George Bush gets 4% of the vote and Glenn Beck gets 2%. It's a crying shame Beck's on the list at all.

Gallup Poll Says Obama is Trying Republicans Aren't

60% say Obama has tried for bipartisanship, while 33% say republicans have tried and 38% believe democrats are working for bipartisanship. That just goes to show that polls are a bunch of nonsense really. The 60% number is good but should be way higher. The 33% number should be way lower for the "Fired Up and Ready to No!" party. And the democrats have made a far more substantial effort for bipartisanship compared to republicans:

President Barack Obama may have failed to achieve much bipartisan agreement on his major policies since he took office, but Americans give him credit for trying. Sixty percent say Obama has made a sincere effort to work with Republicans, down from prior measurements but still the majority view. Gallup

Gallup Poll Says Joe Wilson A Fool

Joe Wilson can entertain the fringe for his 15 minutes, but it looks like the rest of the nation thinks his heckling was downright foolish:

Americans come down strongly in opposition to South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson's "You lie!" outburst during President Obama's address to Congress on healthcare last Wednesday, though majorities on both sides of the issue do not seem passionate in their views. Sixty-eight percent of Americans interviewed in the Sept. 11-13 USA Today/Gallup poll say they oppose what Wilson did, while 21% say they support it. Gallup

What I wonder is where they dug up the people for their survey. I'm sure most Americans aren't even paying that much attention. Or are they?

Most Americans Support the Stimulus

I hope Republican butts don't get too sore as they sit on the sidelines waiting for the stimulus to fail.

Gallup: President Barack Obama signed the new $787 billion stimulus bill into law today in Denver with the general support of a majority of the American public, albeit a public sharply divided along party lines -- just as was the case in Congress where the bill was deliberated and voted on over the last several weeks. The bill becomes law at a time when almost 8 in 10 Americans believe the U.S. economy is getting worse, and fewer than 1 in 10 say it's a good time to find a quality job.

Most Remain Confident in Obama

Gallup: Between 63% and 67% of Americans have said they are confident in Barack Obama's ability to be a good president in the weeks since his election on Nov. 4, a sentiment that doesn't yet appear to be have been affected, positively or negatively, by news coverage of the president-elect's staff and Cabinet appointments, or by reports of his economic and other policy plans.

Conservatives Impressed With Obama

Gallup: The extent to which Barack Obama is experiencing a post-election wave of good will from Americans is evident in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking results, from Nov. 9-11, in which close to half of political conservatives -- 45% -- say they are "confident in his ability to be a good president." About the same percentage (46%) disagree.

Obama's Favorability Rates Rise

Just when you thought you couldn't take another poll...

Swamp: Just a few days after a historic presidential election that played out against a backdrop of deep satisfaction with the way things are going in America, President-elect Barack Obama has gained several points in the public's image of the Democrat who won the election.

On election eve, the Gallup Poll reports, Obama's favorable rating among voters surveyed stood at 61 percent. In the latest results of daily tracking polls that Gallup will continue throughout the transition to the Obama administration and then into the 44th president's first term, Obama's favorable rating stands at 70 percent - his unfavorable rating at 22 percent.

And the fever of dissatisfaction in the nation has cooled jut slightly - down from 86 to 81 percent. No time to call off the ice packs, however.

We're wondering about the causes here: Realization that the next administration knows Africa is a continent? Rahm Emanuel's hiring as chief of staff? Obama's search for a pound puppy, a "mutt" like him? Fact that the campaign is finished?

McCain Palin Supporters Are Extreme

McCain is in full panic mode this morning at a rally in Wisconsin. Nearly every other sentence, he says Obama is a very bad man.
Palin is adding her 2 cents. She says the word "also" about 100 times.
The audience is in full freakout mode. In a way the reaction of the audience reassures me that Obama will win. These people are so extreme, right of right. These are the Obama haters. These aren't ordinary republicans. 
"Sit down I'm not done," insists a man. He also tells McCain to let him talk. The socialists have taken over, he said, to a rousing applause.
He calls Obama and Pelosi hooligans (video below)
McCain answers saying the democrats have been in control and he will act and work with anyone.
The audience keeps yelling ACORN, which the wingnuts have been trying to tie to Obama.
A supporter says he is "stunned" that Obama has gotten this far and that more needs to be said about the "people that he has hung with."
McCain says he doesn't care that Ayers is a washed up terrorist but the concern is that Obama is lying about his relationship with Ayers. He received little applause. The audience wanted more. They wanted what Palin offers at her rallies. Audiences love her for this because she's not afraid to inspire hate. That's her job.
Palin wonders why Obama doesn't utter the word "victory" in the war. She says Obama voted against funding the troops. Palin says that she treads "dangerous territory" when she suggests that mainstream media isn't asking all the questions. She tells them to demand that the media question Obama's shady ties.
A black man in the audience says he's been getting hammered because he supports McCain. He says McCain needs to mention Obama's connection with "shady" characters Wright and others at the final debate. "I'm begging you sir, take it to him."
McCain says he'll do that but pivots to the economy. Palin ends the rally saying that Obama is saying that our soldiers are killing civilians. McCain and Palin are two liars. I didn't hear any truths from them.

Here's why McCain is freaking out.
Obama holds at 52 in the daily Gallup poll. McCain holds at 41.
Obama up 8 in new Virginia poll.
Obama could steal Virginia.
Battleground states
More of McCain Palin's extreme supporters. They scare me. If Obama gets in office, these people are going to freak:

Here is another video of extremism at a McCain Palin event
Hooligans

Obama Up 11 in Gallup Poll

Obama expands his lead from 9 to 11 and McCain goes down 1.

Electoral-Vote: A CBS poll poll of 516 uncommitted voters taken just after the event showed that 40% thought that Obama won and 26% said McCain won. On the all-important issue of the economy, Obama got a boost. Before the event 55% thought he would make the right decisions on the economy; afterwards it was 68%. McCain also gained strength, going from 41% to 48%. On the issue of who best understands the voters needs, Obama went from 59% to 80% and McCain went from 33% to 44%.

CNN also ran a poll of 675 adults and also concluded that Obama won. Here 54% said Obama performed better and 30% said McCain did. The people polled thought Obama was the more intelligent person by 57% to 25% and expressed his views more clearly 60% to 30%. In a way, these numbers are not surprising. Obama has degrees from two Ivy League schools and was president of the Harvard Law Review. McCain went to the Naval Academy and came in 894th out of 899 students in his class.

Obama Up for 9th Straight Day

Four Floridians for Obama

The new Gallup daily tracking poll shows Obama at 50, McCain at 43.

Today's result includes two full days of interviewing after the Oct. 2 vice presidential debate between Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Biden, as well as after the news on Friday, Oct. 3, that Congress had passed a revised economic rescue plan to help alleviate the Wall Street financial crisis.

The race has been slightly closer on both of these two individual days (Oct. 3-4) than the previous two days. Obama held particularly large leads over McCain from Oct. 1-2, possibly resulting from Americans' focus on the Wall Street financial crisis and congressional rescue plan dominating the news at that time. Since then, support for Obama has remained about the same, at the 49% to 50% level, while support for McCain has increased slightly, with an associated decline in the percentage of undecided voters.

Obama's Lead is Steady

Poster by Derek Hess 

Obama is up 1 to 50. McCain holds at 42.

Gallup: Obama has now held a statistically significant lead over McCain for the last eight days, one shy of his campaign-best streak of nine days with a lead around the time of the Democratic National Convention. (To view the complete trend since March 7, 2008, click here.)

Obama Reaches 50% in Daily Gallup

Obama is stretching his lead in the daily Gallup poll. Obama 50%, McCain 44%.

New Gallup Poll Obama Up by 9

Barack Obama now leads John McCain among national registered voters by a 49% to 40% margin in Gallup Poll Daily tracking conducted July 24-26.

What's important is the trend:

This represents a continuation of Obama's front-runner position evident in the last three Gallup Poll Daily tracking updates. The margin, coincident with the extensive U.S. news coverage of Obama's foreign tour, is the largest for Obama over McCain measured since Gallup began tracking the general election horserace in March. (To view the complete trend since March 7, 2008, click here.)

Americans Liked Obama's Berlin Speech

You'd think Obama just stepped in doggie doo the way the pundits talk about his overseas visit.

Rasmussen: Over half of Americans (55%) rate Barack Obama’s historic speech in Berlin yesterday good or excellent, and the Democratic presidential candidate is experiencing a modest bounce over John McCain nationally in the latest Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

In a new Rasmussen Reports national survey, 26% grade the speech, delivered before an enthusiastic crowd of more than 200,000, as Excellent. Twenty-nine percent (29%) say it was good. Nearly as many (23%) feel it was only Fair, and 18% rate it as Poor. These results are based upon the 50% of voters who had heard or seen coverage of the speech last night.

Even nearly a third of Republicans (32%) give the speech good or excellent marks, but Democrats are far more enthusiastic, with 75% feeling that way. However, 39% of Republicans rate the speech Poor versus only five percent (5%) of Democrats. Forty-seven percent (47%) of unaffiliated voters say the speech was good or excellent, while 16% characterize it as Poor.

Here's another tidbit:

But in a survey earlier this week Rasmussen Reports found that 63% of Americans do not believe the visits to Iraq and Afghanistan make Obama more qualified to be President.

I don't think his trip makes him more qualified either. He's not going to get qualified on a trip. He's already qualified. Besides, foreign policy isn't one person dictating. It's a group of advisers forming and shaping.
Gallup says Obama got a boost with his overseas visit.

Obama Leads BIG Among Hispanic Voters

Well, well. I guess the general election polling is nothing like the primary. Any argument for Hillary as vice president is out the window. She still has the racist vote, however. But they're not needed in this election.

The Swamp: Hispanic voters, many who favored Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primaries, are now strongly supporting Barack Obama over John McCain, Gallup reports.

A new poll shows registered Hispanic voters prefer Obama over McCain by 59 percent to 29 percent.
However, the smaller group of Hispanic voters who are Republican show more support for McCain. Hispanic voters with conservative views are about evenly divided between the two candidates.

Older Hispanics showed slightly more favor toward McCain, than younger Hispanic voters.

Gallup:

While Hispanics generally preferred Hillary Clinton to Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination, a solid majority of Hispanics have consistently backed Obama against McCain in general-election trial heats. Obama has led McCain by about a 2-to-1 margin since Gallup began tracking general-election voting preferences in early March.

Gallup has interviewed more than 4,000 Hispanic registered voters during this time period. An analysis of candidate support by subgroup within the U.S. Hispanic electorate reveals that many of the well-established divisions in this year's campaign -- such as the gender gap and the marriage gap -- are weak or nonexistent among Hispanic voters.

Rather, Hispanics of differing demographic backgrounds all tend to solidly support Obama. It thus appears that there isn't much beyond a shared Hispanic ethnicity or identity that explains Hispanic voting patterns.

Perhaps the only exceptions to this general pattern come among the minority of Hispanic voters who identify themselves as Republicans (18%) or who say they have conservative political views (36%). McCain leads Obama among Hispanic Republicans, and is about even with him among Hispanic conservatives.

Nearly Half of Americans Think McBush

A recent Gallup poll shows that Americans think John McCain is too much like George Bush. And they'd be right! Here are the differences.

A recent USA Today/Gallup poll finds about two in three Americans concerned that John McCain would pursue policies as president that are too similar to what George W. Bush has pursued. Nearly half -- 49% -- say they are "very concerned" about this.

Gallup Poll: Obama 55, Hillary 39

in today's gallup poll, obama now leads hillary by 16 points.

General Election Polls Turning Already

ABC News/Wash Post
Dems: Obama 53, Clinton 41
General: Obama 51, McCain 44
General: Clinton 49, McCain 46

Gallup Tracking
05/07 - 05/11
obama 47, mccain 43

Obama Ascended Rough Patch

it's funny how far we've come in just a few days from when obama was a muslim. now we're back to obama is unpatriotic. bill is at it again. a vote for hillary is a vote for bill. keep that in mind. ouch, did we have to be reminded of the blue dress?

despite all of it, obama has managed to rise above it and teach us something at the same time. leader? indeed. obama's back up in the fickle polling.

Barack Obama has quickly made up the deficit he faced with Hillary Clinton earlier this week, with the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update on Democratic presidential nomination preferences showing 48% of Democratic voters favoring Obama and 45% Clinton.
Obama's campaign clearly suffered in recent days from negative press, mostly centering around his association with the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Perhaps as a result, Clinton moved into the lead in Gallup's Wednesday release, covering March 16-18 polling. But Obama has now edged back ahead of Clinton due to a strong showing for him in Friday night's polling, perhaps in response to the endorsement he received from well-respected New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a former rival for the nomination.

Who Can Beat McCain?