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U.S. Elections & Voters

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  • report

    Voters Remain In Neutral As Presidential Campaign Moves Into High Gear

    Summary of Findings The 2008 presidential campaign has kicked off earlier than usual with more candidates than usual, but many people appear not to have noticed. Americans are no more likely to say they have given the presidential campaign much thought than they did in December, and just small minorities can name a candidate they […]

  • report

    How Reliable Are the Early Presidential Polls?

    As the number of declared presidential candidates grows, followers of early poll readings should bear in mind some caveats. Early frontrunners for the Republican nomination in most of the past seven open contests have gone on to win the nomination, but this year there are two GOP frontrunners instead of one clear leader. On the Democratic side, even when there is a clear frontrunner as there is this year with Sen. Hillary Clinton, the early polls have been less reliable in predicting who will capture the nomination.

  • report

    How Reliable Are the Early Presidential Polls?

    The flurry of candidate announcements in an open race has spurred media attention to the 2008 presidential contest even earlier in the electoral cycle than usual. But followers of early poll readings on the relative viability of declared candidates should bear in mind some caveats. Early frontrunners for the Republican nomination in most of the […]

  • report

    Can You Trust What Polls Say about Obama’s Electoral Prospects?

    The strong showing of Democrat Barack Obama in early trial heat polls for the 2008 presidential election raises anew the question of whether the American public is ready to support an African American candidate for president. Recent polling points to two significant shifts on this question.

  • report

    Election Newshounds Speak Up

    Americans flocked in record numbers to their favorite media sources for political news last fall. In this report, fans of newspaper, TV and online news sites tell how and why they differ.

  • short reads

    The New Online Political Elite

    That’s the portion of campaign internet users — adults who used the internet during the 2006 midterm election campaigns to get political news and information and discuss the races through email — who also used the internet to create and share political content. These creators are particularly active in every type of online political activity.

  • report

    Election 2006 Online

    Twice as many Americans used the internet as their primary source of news about the 2006 campaign compared with the most recent mid-term election in 2002.

  • report

    Robo-calls in the 2006 campaign

    64% of registered voters received recorded telephone messages in the final stages of the 2006 mid-term election.

  • report

    Public to ’08 Contenders – It’s Too Early

    Summary of Findings Politicians and political reporters are scrambling to book flights for New Hampshire and other presidential primary states, but the public is far from engaged in the jockeying for 2008. About a quarter of Americans (23%) say they have given a lot of thought to candidates who may be running for president, while […]

  • transcript

    Understanding Religion’s Role in the 2006 Election

    Key West, Florida Some of the nation’s leading journalists and distinguished scholars gathered in Key West, Fla., in December 2006 for the Pew Forum’s biannual Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life. To help journalists better understand the role religion played in the 2006 midterm election, Pew Forum Senior Fellow John Green and […]