State of the Union 2015: Playing offense, President Obama makes gains on critical issues

Online dial testing with 61 white swing voters across the United States and two follow-up online focus groups – one with white non-college educated men and women and one with unmarried women – show that President Obama’s agenda to bring America closer together as a “tight knit family” scored big. […] Read more »

What the Public Wants Obama to Address in the State of the Union Speech

… We combed through our latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll to determine what the American public says should be an absolute priority for the coming year. Overall, Americans said their three top priorities for the country in the coming year are creating jobs (85 percent agreed), defeating and dismantling […] Read more »

State of the Union 2015: How Americans see the nation, their leaders and the issues

President Obama and other administration officials have been road-testing several possible themes and proposals that are likely to come up in his State of the Union speech today. Here’s a look at public opinion on the issues that Obama and Republicans say they will push in the coming year, as […] Read more »

Public’s Policy Priorities Reflect Changing Conditions at Home and Abroad

As views of the economy improve and terrorist threats persist, the public’s policy priorities have changed: For the first time in five years, as many Americans cite defending the U.S. against terrorism (76%) as a top policy priority  as say that about strengthening the nation’s economy (75%). CONT. Pew Read more »

Cluster of Concerns Vie for Top U.S. Problem in 2014

In 2014, four issues generated enough public concern over enough months for at least 10% of Americans, on average, to identify each of them as the nation’s most important problem. Complaints about government leadership — including President Barack Obama, the Republicans in Congress and general political conflict — led the […] Read more »

Public Perception Is Just Wrong About Key Obama Issues

President Barack Obama is a renowned orator, capable of lofty and often moving rhetoric. When it comes to informing Americans about the accomplishments of his own administration, however, he’s not exactly the persuader-in-chief. A Bloomberg Politics poll shows that on two controversial issues, the budget deficit and deporting illegal immigrants, […] Read more »