Pew Research Center Staff

Just 34% of voters say they know a lot about McCain’s stance on major issues.

The number of people who say they are unaffiliated with any particular faith today (16.1%) is more than double the number who say they were not affiliated with any particular religion as children.

Only 13% of U.S. adults say it’s “very important” for them to be wealthy, ranking this personal priority far behind six others measured in a Pew Social Trends survey.

One-third of those who say they were raised Catholic no longer describe themselves as Catholic, which means that roughly 10% of all Americans are former Catholics.

More than four in ten Americans (43%) say that the use of torture can be justified to gain key information sometimes (31%) or often (12%).

Fully 36% of adult internet users say they have used a search engine to find information about someone from their past.

Just 18% of Americans say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the country today, down from 22% in March and 27% at the end of 2007. This represents a new low in 20 years of Pew Research Center polling.

Following Tennessee’s lead, seven states have moved to guarantee domestic production of all U.S. flags purchased by the state government while one other state, Minnesota seeks to bar all foreign-made flags.

A sizable minority of voters (43%) say Obama’s approach to foreign policy would not be tough enough.