As part of our continuing series of focus groups among Walmart Moms, Neil Newhouse of Public Opinion Strategies and Margie Omero of Penn Schoen Berland conducted two focus groups on Tuesday, August 9, 2016. We have tracked these Walmart Moms – defined as voters with children under 18 in their […] Read more »
Are Pennsylvania voters ready for a woman president?
Is America really ready to elect a woman president? Polls strongly suggest yes. By 1999, Gallup found that 92 percent of Americans were willing to vote for a well-qualified woman for president. But the reality may be far more complicated. And in suburban Pittsburgh this week, a focus group of […] Read more »
Pennsylvania to Washington: The 2016 Election Is Not Over
“Everyone in Washington wants to write that this election is over,” cautions respected pollster Peter D. Hart, that Republican Donald Trump — after six weeks of highly public unforced errors — has effectively shattered his chances of winning the White House. Hart, after conducting a two-hour focus group of 11 […] Read more »
When Conventional Wisdom Gets Ahead of the Voters
There’s no doubt that Donald J. Trump has had a bad few weeks. His party remains split over his nomination. He fired his campaign manager and his campaign has less money in the bank than some state Senate candidates. But, if you think that a few weeks of bad headlines […] Read more »
Trump’s Working Class Base is Keeping the Faith
Donald Trump’s Rust Belt base isn’t ready to stop believing. The Republican nominee’s campaign is beset by infighting, organizational mayhem, paltry fundraising and daily controversies. But, according to a focus group of working class voters here, his White House bid remains a source of optimism among the blue-collar workers whose […] Read more »
Republican focus group: Loving Trump, and fearing him
For a dozen Republican voters gathered around a conference table in St. Louis, Donald Trump’s take-no-prisoners style is precisely what appeals to them. And what alarms them. A focus group convened by pollster Peter Hart and sponsored by the Annenberg Center for Public Policy at the University of Pennsylvania explored […] Read more »