Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Politics

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    No Clear Advantage

    One of the more surprising twists in a surprising year is that despite the obvious Republican disadvantages in this election cycle, John McCain is matching up pretty well against Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in tests being conducted by national polls. Electability is an issue for Democrats, and one that both Senators Obama and Clinton […]

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    Network News Signing Off?

    The speculation over Katie Couric’s future as anchor of the CBS Evening News has raised broader questions over how long the three nightly network news broadcasts will be able to survive. A survey of journalists, released last month, found that many news professionals were skeptical about the long-term viability of the three evening broadcasts. Read […]

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    Campaign News Interest Dips

    Summary of Findings With the presidential campaign in something of a lull, public interest in campaign news has declined. Last week, 33% of the public paid very close attention to campaign news, down from 44% in mid-February. Public interest in the campaign, which had consistently surpassed attentiveness to previous presidential contests, is now comparable to […]

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    Most Americans Unfamiliar with Petraeus, Rice Remains Popular

    Summary of Findings Gen. David Petraeus has played a pivotal role in crafting the U.S. military strategy in Iraq, but he is an unfamiliar figure to most Americans. On the eve of Petraeus’ congressional testimony on the situation in Iraq, a solid majority (55%) says they do not know enough about the top U.S. commander […]

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    That’s What I Like About Me

    At the start of his run for the presidency, Barack Obama would explain the positive reaction he was getting from admirers by saying “this is more about you than about me.” Now that Mr. Obama is the front-running Democratic candidate, an in-depth look at how voters are reacting to him – and the reasons for […]

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    Robo-Calls Now Lead Other Forms of Campaign Outreach

    As Congress considers a proposal to put restrictions on pre-recorded campaign calls, or “robo-calls,” the frequency of such calls is increasing. Overall, 39% of voters say they have received a pre-recorded call about the campaign, up from 25% in November. In other campaign findings, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to engage in campaign activities […]