For the past 12 months, I have said President Obama would lose his reelection bid, primarily because of the national discouragement reflected in the well-known and widely used “right direction” or “wrong track” question. Historical data says that candidates for president or governor facing an electorate that is majority-“wrong track” […] Read more »
Optimism in Obama presidency increases
The percentage of voters believing that the country is better off since Barack Obama became president jumped seven points after the two political conventions, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Thirty-eight percent of registered voters now say the nation is better off, which is up from 31 […] Read more »
U.S. Satisfaction Up to 30%, Highest in Three Years
Thirty percent of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in the United States. Although low in an absolute sense, the current satisfaction level is the highest Gallup has measured since August 2009 (36%). A year ago, satisfaction stood at 11%. [cont.] Jeffrey M. Jones, Gallup Read more »
Many Key Indicators Better Than When Obama Took Office
Many key economic and mood indicators are more positive now than in February 2009 when President Barack Obama first took office. However, there have been significant ups and downs during his 44 months as president. [cont.] Frank Newport, Gallup Read more »
‘Are You Better Off?’ The Answer Is Less Clear Than It Was in 1980
When Ronald Reagan asked voters a week before the 1980 election whether they were better off than four years earlier, he turned a race that had been nip-and-tuck for months into a landslide victory — and showed how a pointed question can be a lethal political weapon. … But if […] Read more »
The Romney Whopper Watch
… When Mitt Romney said this was the first time a majority of Americans were pessimistic about the future, I was startled. I devised an important measure to address this topic in 1984 as a consultant working with Warren Mitofsky at CBS. … This might have been a minor whopper […] Read more »