Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Politics

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    Obama Ahead with Stronger Support, Better Image and Lead on Most Issues

    At this stage in the campaign, Barack Obama is in a strong position compared with past victorious presidential candidates. With an eight-point lead over Mitt Romney among likely voters, Obama holds a bigger September lead than the last three candidates who went on to win in November, including Obama four years ago.

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    Middle East Turmoil Closely Followed; Romney’s Comments Viewed Negatively

    Overview About four-in-ten Americans (43%) have followed news about the attacks on U.S. embassies in the Middle East and the killing of an American ambassador very closely, making it by far the most closely followed foreign news story of the year. Those who have followed this story have much more positive opinions about Barack Obama’s […]

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    Democrats Now More Positive on Campaign 2012

    Overview In the wake of the party conventions, Democrats express increasingly positive views of the presidential campaign. And today, substantially more Democrats than Republicans view the campaign as interesting and informative. The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Sept. 7-9 among 1,012 adults, finds that 66% […]

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    Record Partisan Gap in Views of Economic News

    Overview With the election less than two months away, partisan differences in views of economic news have become wider than ever. Despite this month’s lackluster jobs report, there has been a modest decline in the percentage of Americans saying news about the economy is mostly bad – with virtually all of the change coming among […]

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    Democratic Convention Highlights: Clinton Outshines Obama

    Overview 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 […]

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    PBS NewsHour Video: Rep. Dennis <br> Kucinich Takes the Political Party Quiz

      At the Democratic National Convention, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) took our political news quiz to see where he stands on the political spectrum. Pew Research Center and PBS NewsHour partnered to launch the political party quiz, based on the Pew Research Center’s national survey. Take the quiz to see where you fit on the […]

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    Obama in a Word: From ‘Inexperienced’ and ‘Change’ to ‘Good’ and ‘Trying’

    Four years ago, voters’ descriptions of Barack Obama focused on his newness on the political scene. In September 2008, more voters used the word inexperienced to describe Obama than any other word, while change was the most frequently used positive term. Words like young, charismatic and new were also among the top descriptions. Today, the […]