Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Fully 86% of registered voters say that the economy will be very important to their vote in the fall; 84% say that jobs will be very important. Both issues have ranked at or near the top of voters’ priorities in campaigns dating back to 2004. The federal budget deficit is now viewed as more important […]
Overview Most Americans can correctly identify the relative positions of the Republican and Democratic parties on the major issues of the day. But a review of what Americans know about the political parties shows that the public is better informed about the partisan affiliations of two popular recent presidents – Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton […]
The latest Pew Research Center polling shows that Obama has strong support from black Protestants and the religiously unaffiliated, while Romney holds a lead among white evangelicals and white Catholics. The complete report includes general election preferences by religion and by gender within religious groups as well as voters’ views on which issues are very important in deciding who to vote for this fall
The Project for Excellence in Journalism did not publish a news index report this week. However, the data is available.
The Democratic Party’s image has improved in recent months while impressions of the Republican Party have remained negative. The public also views the Democratic Party as better able to deal with the nation’s energy problems and Medicare. Despite offering a mixed assessment of the health care legislation passed in 2010, the public has more confidence […]
The gender gap in presidential politics is not new. Democratic candidates have gotten more support from women than men for more than 30 years. Even so, Barack Obama’s advantages among women voters over his GOP rivals are striking. In the Pew Research Center’s most recent national survey, conducted March 7-11, Obama led Mitt Romney by […]
Rick Santorum, who ultimately emerged as the main challenger to Romney, also had the most roller coaster like narrative of any candidate, the tone of his coverage shifting from negative to positive and back again. The former Pennsylvania senator was never able to sustain substantially positive coverage for more than two weeks, and often not […]
Background 1. Where do the restrictions on religious organizations’ participation in the political process come from? The Internal Revenue Code prohibits intervention in political campaigns by organizations that are exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3), including religious organizations. To qualify for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code, an organization must meet […]