When Private Lives Become Public
Generally, the issues matter most in voters’ judgments about presidential candidates, but personality, character and values are not far behind — and especially so in primary elections.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Publications
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Most Say Homosexuality Should Be Accepted By Society
While the public is divided over same-sex marriage, a majority of Americans (58%) say that homosexuality should be accepted, rather than discouraged, by society. Among younger people in particular, there is broad support for societal acceptance of homosexuality. More than six-in-ten (63%) of those younger than 50 – 69% of those younger than 30 – […]
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Bush Lost Battle Over the Surplus, But Won Tax Cut War
A decade ago, Washington grappled with a problem that seems unreal in today’s economic climate – what to do with the budget surplus? In 2000, George W. Bush had campaigned on a pledge to return part of the surplus to taxpayers in the form of an across-the-board tax cut. Bush’s opponent, Al Gore, countered with […]
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Death of bin Laden: More Coverage than Interest
Overview While the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan by U.S. military forces attracted a near-record amount of news coverage, public interest in the story has been comparatively modest. Just more than four-in-ten (42%) say they followed news about the Al Qaeda leader’s killing more closely than any other news last week. One-in-five (20%) […]
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Why Are Gas Prices Rising? A Mix of Reasons
As gas prices soar, many Americans pin the blame on greed or a push for higher profits among oil companies, speculators and oil-producing nations. About three-in-ten (31%) offer a variation on this theme – greed, oil companies or speculation – when asked what they think is the main reason gasoline prices have gone up recently, […]
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Video: 2011 Political Typology
Michael Dimock, associate director of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, provides an overview of the findings of the report Beyond Red vs. Blue: Political Typology.
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How We Identified Your Group
Identifying which group is the best fit for you involved matching the pattern of your answers to the political value questions and party affiliation to the responses of people who took the 2011 typology national survey. This entailed a two step process: first creating the typology groups for the survey and then identifying which typology […]
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Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political Typology
Overview With the economy still struggling and the nation involved in multiple military operations overseas, the public’s political mood is fractious. In this environment, many political attitudes have become more doctrinaire at both ends of the ideological spectrum, a polarization that reflects the current atmosphere in Washington. Yet at the same time, a growing number […]