A fresh blast of public discontent reshaped American politics yet again in the 2014 midterm elections, handing the Republican Party control of the Senate and its largest house majority in 86 years. Its source: Seemingly unending economic woe – and the political discord it fuels. CONT. Gary Langer, ABC News Read more »
6 facts about the electorate on midterm day
All through this year, we have been tracking the mood and opinions of the general public and those who have registered or are likely to vote, and that has added up to this snapshot of the 2014 electorate, which we’ve boiled down to six facts. CONT. Bruce Drake, Pew Read more »
Obama Effect Likely Negative in Key Senate Races
In an election in which President Barack Obama’s mediocre approval ratings have cast a shadow on Democrats’ efforts to maintain their slim Senate majority, his image has remained generally weak in six states featuring competitive races. This includes sub-40% approval ratings over the last several months in Iowa (38%), Kansas […] Read more »
The Tectonic Plates of 2014
Candidates matter, campaigns matter, spending matters, and local quirks matter, too. But, like all elections, this fall’s midterm has also been heavily shaped by systemic structural factors that transcend the competitions between individual candidates. As the campaign careens toward its close, keeping some of these factors in mind may help […] Read more »
The Tactical Implications of Using Obama as an Issue in Midterm Campaigns
Republican candidates and independent groups working on behalf of Republican candidates in various Senate and other races this year have spent considerable cost and effort on the campaign tactic of connecting Democratic candidates to President Barack Obama. Their thinking centers on the assumption that this connection of a candidate to […] Read more »
Barack Obama and the curse of the mid-term elections
Barack Obama must not like his fellow Democrats. How else can we explain that the man with the golden political touch when he is on the ballot is political absinthe in the midterms. In our latest national survey, our pre-election poll done October 30-November 2, Obama’s approval rating of 41% […] Read more »