The president’s hump year

The sixth year of a two-term presidency is rarely kind. The public’s initial romance with the president has faded. The brief momentum he thought he earned by winning reelection has faded too. The White House doesn’t set the agenda any more; events are in charge now. … And if the past […] Read more »

Can Obama raise his job-approval ratings enough for a political recovery?

Here’s a surprisingly complex question: Can President Obama recover, politically speaking? And if so, what would that recovery look like? The president is mired in the worst extended polling dip of his five years in office, dragged down by a series of scandals (National Security Agency spying, IRS targeting) and […] Read more »

Gallup: A review of the year’s major findings, from politics to well-being

Gallup.com chronicled Americans’ responses to the major issues and events that will define 2013 in the annals of history, from Edward Snowden’s revelations about U.S. government spying to the federal government shutdown, to the possibility of war with Syria. Gallup’s editors and writers explored what was perhaps the biggest development […] Read more »