Presidential Campaign Public’s Top Story
Americans continued to follow news about the presidential campaign more closely than any other news last week, though they also closely followed news about the price of gasoline.
Presidential Campaign Tops Public’s News Interest
Americans focused most closely last week on news about the presidential election, as the race increasingly shifted from the Republican primary contest to the head-to-head fight between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.
Obama Support for Gay Marriage Public’s Top Story
President Obama’s expression of support for same-sex marriage proved to be the public’s top news story last week.
Public Attention Focused on U.S. Economy
Americans followed news about the nation’s economy more closely than any other news last week amid new signs the pace of the recovery has slowed.
Public’s Top Stories: Martin Case, Election, Economy
Developments in the Trayvon Martin murder case and news about the candidates for president topped the public’s news interest last week, with about as many saying they followed news about the economy most closely.
Cable Leads the Pack as Campaign News Source
Cable news is now the top regular source for campaign news. The long-term decline in the number of Americans getting campaign news from local and network TV news, and local newspapers, steepened this year. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are used for campaign news by a relatively limited audience.
Primary Fight and Obama Speech Top News Interest
In the days before Tuesday’s hard-fought Florida primary and just after the president’s State of the Union address, political stories topped the public’s news interest.
Cruise Ship Accident, Election Top Public’s Interest
The deadly crash of a cruise ship off of the coast of Italy and the latest developments in the 2012 presidential campaign topped the public’s news interests last week.
Campaign 2012: Too Negative, Too Long, Dull
Half of Americans say the presidential campaign has been too negative and 55% of the public describe the 2012 contest so far as dull. Nearly six-in-ten (57%) describe the campaign as dull.
GOP Candidates Hardly Household Names
Smaller percentages of Americans can name, without being prompted, the leading candidates in this year’s Republican presidential race than in previous GOP races. At this stage of the campaign in the 1996, 2000 and 2008 campaigns, significantly more Americans could name Bob Dole, George W. Bush, and Rudolph Giuliani than they could for Mitt Romney or Rick Perry.
