Pew Research Center » U.S. Political Parties

Obama Has Approval Advantage, But GOP Runs Even on Issues

Pew Research Center — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:15:03 +0000

Despite GOP leaders’ poor job ratings, the Republican Party runs about even with the Democrats on leading issues such as the economy, immigration and gun control.

Widening Gap in Views of Federal, State and Local Governments

Pew Research Center — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:15:57 +0000

Favorability ratings for different levels of government have diverged over the past decade as public views of the federal government have fallen to new lows.

Public Views GOP as Principled, But Out of Touch

Pew Research Center — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:15:03 +0000

While somewhat more say the Republican Party than the Democratic Party has strong principles, the GOP is viewed as too extreme and out of touch.

Obama in Strong Position as He Begins Second Term

Pew Research Center — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:41:59 +0000

More Americans say Obama is trustworthy, a strong leader and someone who stands up for his beliefs; 52% approve of the job he is doing and 59% have a favorable opinion of him.

Democrats Now More Positive on Campaign 2012

Pew Research Center — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 14:43:25 +0000

In the wake of the party conventions, Democrats express increasingly positive views of the presidential campaign.

Democratic Convention Highlights: Clinton Outshines Obama

Pew Research Center — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Like Mitt Romney, Barack Obama was not the highlight of his party’s convention. Among those who watched at least a little coverage of the Democratic convention, 29% say the highlight was Bill Clinton’s speech, while 16% name Obama’s speech as the highlight. About as many (15%) say that first lady Michelle Obama’s speech was the highlight of the convention.

The latest survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Sept. 7-9, 2012 among 1,012 adults nationwide, finds that while Obama’s speech was not the highlight of the convention, it is evaluated more positively than Romney’s convention address. Six-in-ten (60%) of those who watched at least a little convention coverage rate Obama’s speech as excellent or good; that compares with 53% of GOP convention watchers who rated Romney’s speech positively.

However, Obama’s speech was not viewed nearly as positively as his address at the convention four years ago: 73% said that speech was excellent or good. In 2008, 42% of convention watchers rated Obama’s speech as excellent, compared with 29% who rate it that highly today.

More Interest in GOP Platform than Romney’s Speech

Pew Research Center — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000

As the Republican convention gets underway, more Americans express interest in learning about what’s in the GOP platform than in the speeches by either Mitt Romney or his running mate. About half of the public (52%) is interested in learning about the Republican Party’s platform, while 44% are interested in Romney’s acceptance speech and about the same percentage (46%) in Ryan’s convention speech.

The latest survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, conducted August 23-26, 2012 among 1,010 adults nationwide, finds overall interest in the Republican convention is comparable to the past two GOP conventions. More than four-in-ten (44%) say they are very or fairly interested in following what happens in Tampa over the next three days, compared with 48% on the eve of the 2008 GOP convention, and 46% in 2004.

Read the full report.

A Closer Look at the Parties in 2012

Pew Research Center — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000

As the 2012 party conventions approach, the Democratic Party continues to maintain an advantage in party identification among voters, but its lead is much smaller than it was in 2008.

In more than 13,000 interviews conducted so far in 2012, 35% of registered voters identify with the Democratic Party, 28% with the Republican Party and 33% as independents. The share of Democrats has fallen three points since 2008, while the proportion of Republicans has remained steady.

Over the past four years, the shift in party identification has occurred almost entirely among white voters. The Republican Party now has a 12-point advantage over Democrats among non-Hispanic white voters: 52% identify with or lean toward the Republican Party while 40% identify with the Democratic Party or lean Democratic.

Read the full report.

Obama Holds Lead; Romney Trails on Most Issues

Pew Research Center — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Despite the stagnant economy and broad dissatisfaction with national conditions, Barack Obama holds a significant lead over Mitt Romney. Currently, Obama is favored by a 50% to 43% margin among registered voters nationwide. Obama has led by at least a slim margin in every poll this year, and there is no clear trend in either candidate’s support since Romney wrapped up the GOP nomination.

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted June 28-July 9, 2012 among 2,973 adults, including 2,373 registered voters, finds that Romney has not seized the advantage as the candidate best able to improve the economy. In fact, he has lost ground on this issue over the past month.

The Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the 2010 Affordable Care Act appears to have had little effect on the 2012 race. But the decision has had a substantial impact on views of the court itself.

About half of Americans (51%) express a favorable opinion of the court, while 37% have an unfavorable view, up eight points since April and the highest percentage expressing an unfavorable opinion in a trend dating to 1985.

The more negative view of the court is largely being driven by Republicans: Three months ago, Republicans viewed the Supreme Court favorably by a 56% to 25% margin. Today, they view the court unfavorably by a 51% to 38% margin.

The presidential campaign’s dynamics have changed little in recent months, despite the court’s high-profile health care ruling, a series of subpar job reports and increased campaign activity on the part of both candidates. Independent voters remain evenly divided, 46% support Romney while 45% back Obama.

The electorate remains deeply unhappy with the way things are going in the country. Just 28% of registered voters say they are satisfied with national conditions, while two-thirds (67%) are dissatisfied, which is largely unchanged from recent months. Poor job reports have not gone unnoticed by the public: 51% say they are hearing mostly bad news about the job situation, and 40% say the overall economic news is mostly bad. However, these evaluations are no worse than they were a month ago, and are not having a negative effect on impressions of Obama’s performance. At 50%, his current job approval rating is actually up slightly from 47% last month and in positive territory for the first time since March.

What the Public Knows about the Political Parties

Pew Research Center — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Are you more news-savvy than the average American?

Test your knowledge of the major political parties by taking our short 13-question quiz. Then see how you did in comparison with 1,000 randomly sampled adults asked the same questions in a national survey conducted Mar. 29-Apr. 1, 2012 by the Pew Research Center.

When you finish, you will be able to compare your News IQ with the average American, as well as with the scores of college graduates and those who didn’t attend college; with men and women; and with people your age as well as other ages.

Read the report: What the Public Knows about the Political Parties
(No peeking! If you are going to take the quiz, do it first before reading the analysis).

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