Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Introduction and Summary As the country awaits the formal transfer of presidential power, Bill Clinton has never looked better to the American public, while his successor George W. Bush is receiving initial reviews that are more mixed, though still positive. The president leaves office with 61% of the public approving of the way he is […]
Introduction and Summary Overlooked amid controversies over hanging chads and divided courts were some important lessons from the presidential campaign. Here are previously unreleased findings from the Pew Research Center’s post-election survey, conducted Nov. 10-12: There was more positive voting and less voting against candidates this time than in the three previous presidential elections. George […]
Introduction and Summary Al Gore’s personality may be costing him votes. Although a plurality of voters believe he won the first presidential debate, he has lost his small September lead over George W. Bush. As the race has narrowed, an increasing number of voters who oppose the vice president say they dislike his personality. On […]
Gender Divide Among Issue Voters Issues continue to drive voter preferences, as strong pluralities of both Gore and Bush voters say what they like most about their candidates are their stands on issues. Experience is also a draw for Gore voters, while roughly three-in-ten Bush supporters say they like the governor because of his personality […]
The Veeps The vice presidential candidates are as evenly matched as their principals. When asked to choose between Lieberman and Cheney, voters divide evenly — 42% for the Democrat, 41% for the Republican. The gender gap in the presidential horse race is mirrored in this question about the bottom of the ticket. Men prefer Cheney […]
Gore’s Issues Edge Gore is seen as the candidate who would do the best job on the issues that matter most to Americans — Social Security and Medicare, education and health care. Nearly half of voters (49%) say Gore would be most capable of keeping Social Security and Medicare financially sound, while 36% choose Bush. […]
The advent of congregational sites Among our respondents, Web sites were fairly well established: 44% have been up for over 2 years, and 78% for at least one year. They were generally created on an ad hoc basis by volunteers (66%) rather than as a planned action of the clergy or a committee (27%). Once […]
Might-Miss TV? Just one-in-ten Americans (13%) plan to watch all or most of the television coverage of the GOP convention, while another 28% say they’ll watch some of it. Older Americans are both more interested in the convention and more apt to watch the television coverage. But even among Republicans, there is scant interest in […]
As a million moms get set to march on behalf of gun control this weekend, it’s not clear how this issue will play in voter decisions in the fall. The conventional wisdom has held for a long time that while proponents of more restrictions on firearms outnumber opponents, it’s intensity that counts at the ballot […]