The Iraq Challenge
Soaring concern about the economy has displaced the Iraq War as the top priority issue among voters. Ambivalent and contradictory public opinions further complicate the role that the conflict will play in the November election.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
It turns out that Iraq is not the pivotal campaign issue that it seemed to be less than a year ago. Indeed, the war is no longer the top concern among voters. At the same time, the war’s impact is complicated by ambivalent and contradictory public opinions. In many respects, as far as Iraq is […]
A major survey confirms the close link between Americans’ religious affiliation, beliefs and practices, on the one hand, and their social and political attitudes, on the other. The social and political fault lines in American society run through, as well as alongside, religious traditions.
More than 3.9 million people reside in Puerto Rico and 2.8 million of them are eligible to vote.
Overview As the end of the primary season draws near, Barack Obama is the clear favorite of Democratic voters for their party’s presidential nomination. He currently holds a wide 54% to 41% lead over Hillary Clinton. But when the Illinois Democrat is tested against John McCain in a general election matchup, he now runs about […]
What were the dominant personal narratives conveyed in media coverage of the presidential candidates? Which contenders fared best in the press and how critical was that coverage in influencing public opinion? How did those candidate story lines change over time? A new PEJ study of the 2008 primary season examines these questions.
Summary of Findings Despite a significant increase in news coverage of John McCain last week, Barack Obama remained by far the most visible candidate in the eyes of the public. Fully half of the public said Obama was the candidate they had heard the most about in the news recently, while only 8% said they […]
Just one-in-five African Americans now say things are better for blacks now than they were five years ago — down from 70% who said so in 1969.