Presiding over the darkest days the U.S. economy has experienced since the Great Depression, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke leaves office this week as one of the most influential economic policymakers in the country’s recent history. But the American public is divided on how Bernanke has handled his job, with […] Read more »
State of the Union 2014: At critical juncture, President makes major gains
During Tuesday night’s State of the Union Address, Democracy Corps conducted dial tests and follow-up focus groups with 44 swing voters in Colorado. We found President Obama’s agenda for a “year of action”—expressed through new policies for energy, pay equity, jobs, and education—was well-received by voters. The President made impressive […] Read more »
Understanding and Curing Myopic Voting: Why Voters Focus on the Election-Year Economy
In the US, we—the voters—elect our presidents using a potentially problematic decision rule: we largely decide who will be president based on the election-year economy…. If the economy is on an upswing before the election, we usually retain the president or his party’s nominee. If it isn’t, we usually elect […] Read more »
CNN Poll: Speech watcher reaction less positive than previous years
Less than half of those surveyed who watched President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address reacted very positively to it, a new poll showed. And a while the President emphasized in his speech on Tuesday night that he’s willing to bypass Congress and take executive action to accomplish his […] Read more »
Wage hike challenges GOP
I have been harping for some time in this space that opinion leaders, and even some pollsters, have been underplaying pocketbook issues like jobs, the economy, healthcare costs and so forth for too long. It’s evident that some others are finally grasping the political opportunities presented by this sorry economy […] Read more »
Democrats and Republicans Differ on Top Priorities for Gov’t
American politics over the last decade has become notoriously polarized, with congressional Republicans and Democrats disagreeing on the best way to address healthcare, immigration, taxes, and a host of other issues. But supporters of both parties do agree that the economy should be a top priority, with 91% of Democrats […] Read more »