In 1992, Bill Clinton’s strategist, James Carville, made famous a presidential campaign mantra: It’s “the economy, stupid.” He meant that presidential election outcomes are tied to the nation’s economic conditions, something that should not surprise many people. The same, however, is not true for midterm elections. Those are much more […] Read more »
High anxiety, low expectations as election nears
As Election Day nears, America is the Land of the Fearful. Voters are rattled by the Ebola virus, braced for years of conflict against the terrorist group Islamic State and still worried about jobs, a nationwide USA TODAY Poll finds. Two-thirds say the nation faces more challenging problems than usual; […] Read more »
Economic, Political Discontent Make for a Midterm Double Punch
A double punch of economic and political dissatisfaction marks public attitudes in the closing week of the 2014 midterm campaign – a dynamic that reflects poorly on the president’s performance, bolstering his Republican opponents. The discontent in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll is palpable. Despite its fitful gains, seven […] Read more »
Voters Head to the Polls Frustrated and Angry at Congress, President
With only a week to go until the 2014 midterms, the public’s mood can be summed up in three words—frustration, anger, and anxiety. More than five years after the official end of the Great Recession, most people are frustrated by the stagnation of wages and household incomes. They are angry […] Read more »
Ebola Debuts on Americans’ List of Top U.S. Problems
As the quarantine period ends for people exposed to the first person in the U.S. to be diagnosed with Ebola, the virus for the first time ranks among the top 10 issues Americans consider to be the most important ones facing the country. However, Ebola still ranks behind five other […] Read more »
Kentuckians Now More Likely to Align With GOP
A series of disheartening figures could make Democratic Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes’ attempt to unseat Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell all the more difficult. Kentuckians are now more likely to identify as or lean toward Republicans (45%) than Democrats (39%). In the prior six years, Gallup found […] Read more »