“One Small Step” No Longer Seen as Such a Giant Leap for America
Four decades after the first American astronauts walked on the moon, that historic accomplishment has lost some prominence in the eyes of the public. Gen Y is especially spaced out.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Four decades after the first American astronauts walked on the moon, that historic accomplishment has lost some prominence in the eyes of the public. Gen Y is especially spaced out.
The public has generally been supportive of affirmative action programs, but is decidedly opposed to the idea of providing preferential treatment to minorities.
Despite such challenges as a growing wireless-only population, possible racially-related response bias and greater-than-usual difficulties in forecasting turnout, polllsters’ methods were evidently adequate to the task.
Those who say their homes are worth less than what they owe on their mortgages are generally younger, less affluent and more likely to be Hispanic or African American than are those who feel they would at least break even if they had to sell today.
More Americans say that people like themselves will gain influence under the Obama administration than was the case for the last two incoming presidents. Many who did not vote for Obama say this as well — including pluralities of all whites and white evangelical Christians.
A wrap-up of possibly overlooked polling trends and end-of-campaign happenings.
In remarks at a dinner at the Newseum hosted by the Roper Center, Pew Research Center President Andrew Kohut analyzed the voter preferences revealed in exit and post-election polls and their implications for the incoming administration.
Barack Obama captured the White House on the strength of a substantial electoral shift toward the Democratic Party and by winning a number of key groups in the middle of the electorate. In particular, the overwhelming backing of younger voters was a critical factor in Obama’s victory, according to an analysis of National Election Pool exit poll data.
Findings from Pew Research Center polls over the year told the story of the longest — and one of the most exciting — presidential elections in U.S. history as well as recording the public’s reactions to other major events ranging from the pope’s visit, to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to the onset of a mega-economic downturn.
Trends in the opinions of America’s youngest voters are often a barometer of shifting political winds. And that appears to be the case in 2008. Use the interactive tool to track generational differences in party affiliation over time.
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