Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Gore’s Personality Woes While issues continue to drive most voters’ choices, personality remains an important factor in the race, particularly among Gore’s detractors. When asked what they like most about the candidates they support, a plurality of Gore voters (44%) point to his stand on the issues. A significant minority (29%) cite the vice president’s […]
Tight Battle for Congress The battle for control of Congress is as close and as hard-fought as the presidential contest. But there is no sign that national issues or concerns are playing a major role in the struggle for Capitol Hill, and voters do not appear particularly dissatisfied with their own representatives or with Congress […]
Social Security, Medicare Top Priorities So far, no single issue has dominated the campaign, reflecting the public’s varied list of policy priorities. Nearly one-quarter of voters (24%) name Social Security and Medicare as the most pressing priorities for the next president, followed closely by education (21%) and health care (19%). There are major differences between […]
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 […]
State of the Nation Al Gore is benefitting from two seemingly disparate trends — higher satisfaction with the state of the nation and increased worry about longer-term economic issues. A substantial dip in public satisfaction with national conditions, which was particularly evident in the spring and early summer, has reversed itself. More than half of […]
Religion and Politics: The Ambivalent Majority Americans embrace a role for religion in the nation’s political life, but they are conflicted over the extent and contours of that involvement. Compared to a generation ago, more people are comfortable with churches expressing opinions on social and political matters, yet a solid majority of voters say they […]
Introduction and Summary With voters focusing more on the issues than on personal evaluations of the candidates and continuity factors increasingly favoring the Democrats, Al Gore holds a small but significant lead over George W. Bush. A survey of nearly 2,000 registered voters, conducted Aug. 24 – Sept. 10, finds Gore leading Bush by a […]
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 Public’s Mood Mellows Satisfaction with the state of the nation is down slightly over the past 12 months, though still high relative to the early 1990s. In the current survey, 47% of citizens say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the country, down from recent highs of 56% in August […]
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 […]