It’s already clear that the very strange political year of 2016 is bleeding over into the New Year. How could it be otherwise? President-elect Donald Trump, loved and hated by about equal numbers of Americans, continues to ignore or break with convention in a wide variety of areas. Just as […] Read more »
High Expectations Could Bedevil Trump
Some things in politics are hard to reconcile. Since Donald Trump’s election last month, economic optimism has skyrocketed. … With all that in mind, consider that President Obama’s job-approval ratings are way up. … So how can voters be happy with Obama’s job in office and yet almost euphoric about […] Read more »
Many in U.S. Skeptical Trump Can Handle Presidential Duties
As Donald Trump prepares to take the presidential oath on Jan. 20, less than half of Americans are confident in his ability to handle an international crisis (46%), to use military force wisely (47%) or to prevent major scandals in his administration (44%). At least seven in 10 Americans were […] Read more »
Fox News Poll: Voters feeling optimistic about 2017
It was a good year for a majority of voters — and they’re feeling optimistic about next year too, according to the latest Fox News Poll. President Obama’s last year in office was a dramatically better year for voters than his first. Some 53 percent say 2016 was a good […] Read more »
Obama Bests Trump as Most Admired Man in 2016
Americans are most likely to name President Barack Obama as the man they admire most in 2016. Twenty-two percent mentioned Obama in response to the open-ended question. President-elect Donald Trump was second at 15%. … Americans named Hillary Clinton the Most Admired Woman for the 15th consecutive year and 21st […] Read more »
It’s Not About the Economy
… Elkhart is a case study in how Democrats lost the 2016 elections despite the economic resurgence the country experienced under Obama. It shows how, in an increasingly polarized country, an improving economy is not enough to get Republicans to vote for Democrats, in part because they don’t give Democrats […] Read more »