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Politics & Policy

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    Cable Leads the Pack as Campaign News Source

    Overview With a contested primary in only one party this year, fewer Americans are closely following news about the presidential campaign than four years ago. As a consequence, long-term declines in the number of people getting campaign news from such sources as local TV and network news have steepened, and even the number gathering campaign […]

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    Religion and Attitudes Toward Same-Sex Marriage

    The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Feb. 7 that a 2008 California referendum banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. According to the Pew Research Center’s latest polling on the issue, support for same-sex marriage varies by religious group.

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    Religion and the 2012 Nevada Republican Caucuses

    Romney’s win included overwhelming support from Mormons and strong support from Catholic voters. He also won among white born-again/evangelical Protestants, though his support from that group continues to be somewhat more tepid than among non-evangelicals.

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    Lower-Income Republicans Say Government Does Too Little for Poor People

    Mitt Romney’s statement that he is focused solely on the problems of middle class Americans, not the poor, may not sit well with lower-income voters within his own party. Roughly a quarter of Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters have annual family incomes under $30,000, and most of them say that the government does not do […]

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    Religion and the 2012 Florida Republican Primary

    In his commanding win in the Florida Republican primary, Mitt Romney received strong support from Catholics and from voters who do not describe themselves as white born-again/evangelical Christians. Among both white evangelicals and Protestant voters, Romney ran about even with Newt Gingrich.

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    Primary Fight and Obama Speech Top News Interest

    Overview In the days before Tuesday’s hard-fought Florida primary and just after the president’s State of the Union address, political stories topped the public’s news interest. About two-in-ten (22%) say they followed news about candidates for the 2012 presidential elections more closely than any other news last week. About as many (18%) say their top […]

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    GOP Voters Continue to Give Field Subpar Ratings

    Amid a bruising primary campaign, Republicans remain unimpressed with their party’s presidential field. In fact, more Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters say the GOP field is only fair or poor (52%) than did so in early January (44%). By comparison, just 46% of Republican voters have positive opinions of the GOP field, according to the […]

Signature Reports

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Americans’ Dismal Views of the Nation’s Politics

Americans’ views of politics and elected officials are unrelentingly negative, with little hope of improvement on the horizon. 65% of Americans say they always or often feel exhausted when thinking about politics. By contrast, just 10% say they always or often feel hopeful about politics.

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Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political Typology

Pew Research Center’s political typology provides a roadmap to today’s fractured political landscape. It organizes the public into nine distinct groups, based on an analysis of their attitudes and values. Even in a polarized era, the 2021 survey reveals deep divisions in both partisan coalitions.