Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

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  • short reads

    Robo-Called Voters

    Pre-recorded campaign calls, or “robo-calls,” have become the leading form of campaign communication in the 2008 primary season with 39% of voters nationwide saying they have received at least one.

  • short reads

    Feel Less Favorable Toward Hillary Clinton

    About three-in-ten Americans (31%) say their opinion of Hillary Clinton has grown less favorable in recent days, including 28% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents; by comparison, 24% of Americans — and only 13% of Democrats and Democratic leaners — report less favorable views of Barack Obama.

  • short reads

    Republicans Feel More Favorable to John McCain

    A relatively large minority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (40%) say they have come to feel more favorably toward GOP presidential nominee John McCain in recent days.

  • short reads

    Electability: Clinton vs. Obama

    Analysis of Pew surveys conducted in late February and March finds Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama running equally well against Sen. John McCain among voters in the big swing states of Florida, Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania; Obama led McCain 52% to 40% among a representative sample of voters living in these states, while Clinton bested McCain by a statistically comparable 51%-to-42% margin.

  • report

    Turf Wars: A Fight Over Fake Grass

    Debates in a handful of states really are pitting those who back the artificial variety of turf against supporters of natural grass for playgrounds and athletic fields.

  • report

    More Americans View Campaign As Too Negative

    Summary of Findings Interest in what the public perceives as an excessively negative presidential campaign declined in the days leading up to the Pennsylvania primary. Just 29% of Americans say they paid very close attention to news about the presidential campaign last week, the lowest percentage recorded since December 2007. By comparison, 43% said they […]

  • transcript

    An Argument For Same-Sex Marriage: An Interview with Jonathan Rauch

    The debate over same-sex marriage in the United States is a contentious one, and advocates on both sides continue to work hard to make their voices heard. To explore the case for gay marriage, the Pew Forum has turned to Jonathan Rauch, a columnist at The National Journal and guest scholar at The Brookings Institution. […]

  • fact sheet

    Courts Not Silent on Moments of Silence

    In October 2007, the state of Illinois passed a law requiring its public schools to lead students each morning in a moment of silence for “reflection and student prayer.” Illinois already had a law on the books permitting schools to lead such moments of silence. But the Illinois General Assembly, overriding Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s veto, […]

  • transcript

    An Argument Against Same-Sex Marriage: An Interview with Rick Santorum

    The debate over same-sex marriage in the United States is a contentious one, and advocates on both sides continue to work hard to make their voices heard. To explore the case against gay marriage, the Pew Forum has turned to Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and now a senior fellow at the […]

  • report

    Two Perspectives on Gay Marriage

    To explore arguments for and against gay marriage, Senior Research Fellow David Masci interviewed Jonathan Rauch of The National Journal and Rick Santorum of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. The Q&A’s were done as part of the Pew Forum’s special report on gay marriage. Jonathan Rauch: The Case For Same-Sex Marriage “America’s problem is […]