Majorities of Americans Prioritize Renewable Energy, Back Steps to Address Climate Change

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A new Pew Research Center survey finds large shares of Americans support the United States taking steps to address global climate change and back an energy landscape that prioritizes renewable sources like wind and solar. At the same time, the findings illustrate ongoing public reluctance to make sweeping changes to American life to cut carbon emissions. Most Americans oppose ending the production of gas-powered vehicles by 2035 and there’s limited support for steps like eliminating gas lines from new buildings. CONTINUED

Pew Research Center

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Gun Violence Widely Viewed as a Major – and Growing – National Problem

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With total gun-related deaths reaching new highs in recent years, growing shares of Americans view both gun violence and violent crime as very big national problems.

Looking ahead, twice as many Americans expect the level of gun violence to increase rather than stay about the same over the next five years (62% vs. 31%). Just 7% say it will decrease.

The question of whether gun ownership does more to increase or decrease safety evenly divides Americans: 49% say it increases safety by allowing law-abiding citizens to protect themselves; an identical share says it reduces safety by giving too many people access to firearms and increasing misuse. CONTINUED

Pew Research Center

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Sending troops to U.S.-Mexico border is popular. Other GOP policy planks are struggling.

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The latest NBC News poll tests 11 different proposals and issues Republican presidential candidates are campaigning on so far — and the recent push on using the military at the border is resonating with general election voters, though they are down on several other high-profile policy planks.

The most popular position tested, both among all registered voters and Republican primary voters, is deploying the U.S. military to the Mexican border to stop illegal drugs from entering the country, with 55% of all voters and 86% of GOP primary voters saying they’d be more likely to vote for a candidate supporting this position. …

The least popular position is cutting Medicare and Social Security to ease the federal deficit. Several candidates have ruled out touching those programs, while others, like former Vice President Mike Pence, have spoken broadly about long-term changes to Medicare and Social Security. CONTINUED

Alexandra Marquez, NBC News

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At 43%, Biden’s Job Approval Rating Highest Since August

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Two months after receiving the lowest approval rating of his presidency, President Joe Biden has seen his job rating rebound four percentage points in the past month to 43%, the highest point since last August. Fifty-four percent of U.S. adults disapprove of his job performance. …

While Biden may have benefited from negotiating a deal to raise the debt limit, Congress does not appear to have, as its job approval rating is 20%, unchanged from last month. Seventy-six percent of Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing. CONTINUED

Megan Brenan, Gallup

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The Public & the Supreme Court

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It is “big decisions” week at the U.S. Supreme Court. While most people have an opinion about how the Court is handling its job, the details are often obscure to a substantial share of the public. This week’s decisions will come as surprises to many who don’t follow the Court’s docket. …

Most people don’t pay as much attention to either politics or the Court as you, dear reader, or I. This means public reaction to Court decisions may not follow what elite expectations may be, simply because much of the public wasn’t expecting the cases to be decided. Even in Dobbs, a substantial 30% didn’t see the case coming as late as March 2022.

Further, given how much partisanship affects perceptions of the Court, the 25-30% who believe there is a majority appointed by Democratic presidents will have curiously distorted opinions of the court. …

There is a reporting and messaging lesson here. A substantial share of the audience you are trying to reach is likely unaware of some facts you take for granted. It is important to expand awareness of those facts by making them part of your story, even if they seem “obvious.” CONTINUED

Charles Franklin (Marquette Law School), PollsAndVotes

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Trump’s GOP lead grows after latest indictment, poll finds

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Former President Donald Trump has expanded his lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the rest of the Republican presidential field since Trump’s latest indictment on federal criminal charges, according to a new national NBC News poll.

Still, the survey finds half of Republican primary voters say they would consider another leader besides Trump — which suggests a potential opening for a rival to capture the GOP nomination, even as 6 out of 10 Republicans believe the indictments and investigations Trump faces are politically motivated. …

For the first time in the 2024 presidential cycle, the NBC News poll tests a hypothetical general-election matchup between Trump and President Biden. Biden gets support from 49% of registered voters, while Trump gets 45%. CONTINUED

Mark Murray, NBC News

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